Israel's Mighty Warriors Book I: Arise, Skyhorse!
by The Universal Storyteller
Summary: Finally some good romance for the main heroine, as this story ends! Please R&R! I hope you really enjoyed this story, everyone! Now Complete! Please stay tuned for the second volume of this story series at some future date!
1. Prologue

All characters that are definitely known to actually be part of the "Sailor Moon" Universe are actually the property of their owner or owners, where applicable. As are the settings of this particular story and any related stories I may write at any time. All other characters and/or settings that are non-native to the "Sailor Moon" Universe are actually of my own creation, unless otherwise stated. If they aren't actually of my own creation, they're actually the property and/or creation of their owner or owners, where applicable.

All poems and/or songs in, at least, this story or series of stories are copyright to and/or of their respective writers, performers, or authors, and/or their owners, wherever possible, if I'm actually not their writer and/or owner as well. I claim nothing knowingly for my own, people, that I know isn't actually mine. Just like I'm doing for any other elements and characters that I mentioned in the previous paragraph here, I'm doing that here for all of the said poems and/or songs, in fact, people. So the exact same disclaimer applies to them as it does for anything else related to this story and/or its series, at least, if not any other story or stories of mine, people. That's whenever possible, of course.

And please be aware that this story, at least, if not any others as well, may periodically delve into the areas of alternate timelines, realities, and/or universes, as well as have at least some OOC elements for any or all of the characters in it, at least a little bit, if not a lot. And it may or may not tie in with other stories of mine that might feature its main characters, at least on the protagonists' side of things, in fact.

This particular story series of mine here will mainly be set in one of at least eight different Zones of Earth. Specifically, this story series will mainly be set in the Jerusalem Zone of Earth. Other Zones of Earth that may be mentioned in this story series, at least, if not others as well, will be the Tokyo, Honolulu, Seattle, Chicago, Rio De Janeiro, London, and Calcutta Zones. The Tokyo Zone will be known as the Alpha Zone, most, if not all, of the time. The Honolulu Zone will normally be known as the Beta Zone, if not all the time. The Seattle Zone will often be known as the Gamma Zone, if not all the time. Likewise, the Chicago Zone will be the Delta Zone, whenever possible. The Rio De Janeiro Zone will normally be the Epsilon Zone, whenever possible, in actual reality. The London Zone will then normally be the Zeta Zone, the Jerusalem Zone will normally be the Eta Zone, and the Calcutta Zone will normally be the Theta Zone, as well, unless otherwise stated in this or any other sufficiently-related stories of mine here.

_Israel's Mighty Warriors_

_Book One_

Prologue

One thousand years ago, a great interplanetary civilization was ruled from Earth's Moon by a wise Queen. A Queen named Queen Serenity, in fact. Everything in that civilization was quite peaceful until the arrival from another dimension of the Universe of the evil Negaverse in Earth's own solar system. This evil Negaverse was then led by the quite wicked Queens Beryl and Metallia.

Queen Beryl had her eyes on the Milky Way Galaxy's Terran solar system from the very first time that she and her evil Negaverse first detected it elsewhere in the Universe. She'd heard of it long before, and of the wise Queen Serenity that ruled a great interplanetary civilization called the "Moon Kingdom." She'd been quite jealous of the Moon Kingdom and its people, including its leaders, ever since hearing of it for the first time, in fact. And she was sickened by the good that was quite often present in that very solar system of the Universe. So much was she sickened by all that good there, for that matter, that she then sought to conquer and/or destroy the Moon Kingdom, and glorify her mistress Queen Metallia, the highest-ranking leader of the Negaverse.

So, when she and her Negaverse's Negaforce were finally able to get the chance, sufficiently well, they then attacked all the inhabited worlds of the Moon Kingdom that they could find easily enough at that time or those times. And they then sought to utterly and completely conquer and/or destroy the Moon Kingdom, if at all possible. They were almost completely successful, in fact. But they were actually prevented from doing so by Queen Serenity's use of her Imperium Silver Crystal and the Moon Kingdom's Crescent Moon Wand.

Queen Serenity said, to one mostly black cat and one mostly white cat, while she used them, "Only this Crystal and Wand can combat the power of the Negaforce. Never let our enemies get them, or the Universe is doomed. But most of all, you must protect our dear Princess Selena. Understand?"

Two talking cats with rather strange crescent moon-shaped markings on their foreheads who were actually named Luna and Artemis, and who were also Queen Serenity's cats, then acknowledged the order, by saying, "Yes." Even though they now knew what would then have to happen for them and anyone else that Queen Serenity had somehow saved by the use of the aforementioned Crystal and Wand, they still did so, of course.

Not too long afterward, many of the Moon Kingdom's inhabitants were then frozen in Moon Beam Crystals in the shapes of globes and cylinders, wherever appropriate. Then they were all sent to the future on Earth, in at least one Zone of Earth, if not more than one, in fact.

With their memories lost to them all, the now-dead Queen Serenity's cat advisors Luna and Artemis must eventually find the Princess, so that she'd at last be safe. On that note, then, the story now begins, in one of those very Zones of Earth, in actual reality here. Specifically the Jerusalem Zone, in this particular case, at least.


	2. Chapter One

_Israel's Mighty Warriors_

_Book One_

Chapter One

Sylvia Wakefield was shopping with several friends late in August 1990, preparing for the new school year about to start for her and her school in Jerusalem, Israel, when she encountered a young man about a year older than her suddenly in a mall. She and her friends were doing some shopping for assorted school-related attire and supplies, in fact, when she did so. They both encountered each other near numerous spiral-bound notebooks and writing utensils without any prior warning that they'd do so here. Little did she know yet that this young man would come to be very important to her in her life. But time would make that evident to her soon enough, if at all possible. That was supposing that it was given enough of a chance to do so at all in the future.

Sylvia Wakefield was a Caucasian girl who was roughly 5'7" and about 130 or so pounds. She had a build that was at least somewhat, if not greatly, athletic in its nature. She had mostly waist-length auburn hair, and she often wore sweaters and jeans whenever and wherever possible in her life. Her eyes were blue, as well.

Sylvia was just about to begin her junior year of high school at her school in Jerusalem, Israel. She'd spent her whole life generally living in the Jerusalem local area, if and whenever possible. At least occasionally, she'd gone to various places all over the world, during her breaks from school, in fact. Not all the time, for she hadn't yet managed to normally do that for long enough periods of time, seeing as she was still not out of high school, in her life. Among other places in the world that she'd actually been to in it were London, Tokyo, and Chicago. Just to name a few of those places she'd been able to visit in her life for one reason or another.

When they first encountered each other, Sylvia was reaching for a few notebooks in a rack, as he was reaching for nearby writing utensils. As they both reached for their respective intended shopping items, they unexpectedly bumped into each other, while also not facing entirely toward each other here. Several things went flying from their respective hands as they did so. Including a small book just a little bit larger than a typical audio cassette case which she'd been holding in one hand.

As they tried to gather their things up, as needed, they both happened to pick up a few things belonging to each other, without realizing it at first. He, for instance, picked up that small book, which was a book that had assorted notes related to her horse-riding interest. As for her, she picked up a book about the same size, more or less, that had several addresses in it of people he knew in his life. Neither realized yet that they were each picking up some of each other's things when they were trying to gather their things back up again. But eventually, they'd seek to find each other, once they did so, in fact.

After about five minutes or so of trying to pick up their respective things here, they picked out the items that they'd just been reaching for when they'd collided with each other. They soon parted from each other, not yet knowing or realizing that they'd probably be seeing each other quite often in the future.

A week later, at most, Sylvia and many other people began school at their Jerusalem-area high school. This school of theirs was called "David Ben Jesse High School." And it was near Mount Moriah in the area. Sylvia's class consisted of about 300 or so students in it, more or less, and the school had about 2,000 students in it running from 7th Grade to 12th Grade. She was a rather good student in her scholastic life in that school. And she'd been such a student at it ever since entering it in the 7th Grade in 1986. Before entering DBJHS, she'd attended Solomon Ben David Elementary School, and done quite well scholastically in it as well.

Sylvia had several close friends, but none of her future Scout teammates were among them, most likely. Instead, her future Scout teammates probably weren't people she'd met before often enough in her life. They'd eventually meet her, if they hadn't already, and begin to form a team with each other in their respective lives.

She soon found herself in her first class of the school year, and it was World History. It was a class with about 20 or so students in it, when she found herself in it. Among the people in it was her best friend Elizabeth. Elizabeth McCall, in fact. Elizabeth McCall, who was often called Liz, had known Sylvia since her father had been sent to Jerusalem by the United Kingdom's government as their Ambassador to Israel, about six years before. Ever since, they'd begun to develop a friendship with each other in their lives.

After the teacher had finished with his first lecture of the school year in the class, Sylvia, Liz, and several other students began to converse with each other as they saw fit, once the teacher let them do so. This remained the case for much, if not most or all, of the rest of the period. Liz asked Sylvia if she was planning to go riding that evening, as she often did whenever she wasn't at school.

Sylvia said, "Perhaps I will. I often go there after school, as you know. I've heard that there might be some new horses coming in soon, as a matter of fact. Perhaps I'll get to check them out the next time I go riding."

For most of the rest of the period, if not all of it, then, Sylvia basically conversed only whenever needed here. This was because she wanted to try to get a good start on the assignment that the teacher, a Mr. Jonathan Hebron, had just given the class here, in fact. The assignment would require each student to make up a hypothetical nation, and shepherd it through history to the best of their respective abilities to do so. This particular assignment would last the whole year long, by the way. At the end of the year, they would receive grades on their assignment depending on how well they did with their hypothetical nations for it. By the end of the first week of school, however, they'd all have to create their respective nations, and begin shepherding them through history as needed here.

A few hours later, after spending time in some other classes away from each other, Liz and Sylvia met up with each other again. It was lunch period for them, in fact. As they went to lunch, they met up with the same guy that Sylvia had encountered earlier when shopping. He was just behind Sylvia when they did so, and he said, "We meet again, it seems."

"So it seems," said Sylvia, once she realized he was talking specifically to her here. "What do you need, if I may ask you this, young man?"

"It seems that I have gotten a small book with horse-related notes in it. Could it be yours, my lady?" Rolando was a young man with roughly shoulder-length black hair, a moustache, and a beard. Also, he had a small vertical scar under his bottom lip on his chin and he wore a pair of glasses with metal frames. He wore the male version of the school's usual student uniform. That male student uniform consisted primarily, though not always necessarily, of a mostly royal blue jacket with white piping, a plain white T-shirt, trousers that matched the uniform's jacket, and a pair of black business-style shoes.

"Who are you, and what's this bit with calling me 'my lady'?" Sylvia and many other girls were all dressed in similar enough, though not exactly like, Rolando and all the other male students near them here, in fact. This, of course, was for all the obvious reasons. The usual female student uniform consisted of a mostly royal blue blouse with white piping on the cuffs wherever needed, a plain white T-shirt under the blouse, a roughly knee-length skirt matching the uniform's blouse, and a pair of black business-style shoes.

"The name's Rolando Volois, and come to think of it, you seem rather familiar to me for some yet-unknown reason. Since I don't know you at all yet, if I ever will, and you're of the female gender, I thought 'my lady' was a proper form of address when talking to you here."

"I see. Well, in that case, might I look at this book you speak of, Mr. Volois?"

Volois reached into his royal blue uniform jacket's inside pocket and withdrew a book from it. He then handed it to her, waiting to see if she recognized it well enough when he did so. She opened the book and began skimming the first few pages, at most, of it, to see if anything written in it was familiar enough to her in her life. In fact, it was quite familiar, for the notes in it were written in her own hand, in both American English and Hebrew, at least. Some notes were even written in Japanese and Spanish, for that matter, where possible.

Sylvia had picked up Japanese from her time in Japan and through assorted video and audio tapes, for the most part. Her partial fluency in Spanish primarily came from her time in several South American countries during certain times away from school, if not entirely from it. As for American English and Hebrew, she'd learned them both from a very young age. She was equally fluent in either language, and had spoken them both for as long as she could remember in her life. Also, as part of her required education, she'd begun learning Arabic and several other similar languages whenever necessary and possible. She wasn't totally fluent in Arabic and those other languages yet, but she eventually hoped to be, just the same.

After skimming the book currently in question for a little while as she then needed to here, she said, "Mr. Volois, it seems this book is indeed mine. I'm wondering how you got possession of it, in fact."

"It seems that when we were shopping for assorted clothes and school supplies, and we collided with each other like we did, I picked up some of your things, and you must have picked up some of mine. Have you found anything of mine of late, by any chance, since we last met each other, then?" He asked this as they were finally able to enter the school's main cafeteria area, by the way.

"Perhaps. Could we perhaps discuss this matter at some later time? For as you know, it's lunch period here, and I think we'd all really like to have some lunch here before it's too late."

"I suppose. When, then?"

"Meet me near the front entrance right after school, if at all possible. Then we'll try to work this matter out."

"Acceptable. Does 3:15 pm or so sound suitable enough for you here, then?"

"I suppose, Mr. Volois."

"Might I ask one other thing, then, before we get our food and drink, at least?"

"What's that?"

"What's your name? It seems to have not been anywhere at all in your notebook, as far as I could then tell well enough."

"My name is Sylvia. Sylvia Wakefield, as a matter of fact."

"Very well, then. I shall call you Miss Wakefield, if you'd like me to in the future. I have this rather strange feeling that we might even be spending a lot of time with each other in it."

Shortly thereafter, they each received their lunches from the necessary cafeteria personnel, and sat at two different tables elsewhere in the cafeteria, about five tables apart from each other. Sylvia and several other girls, including Elizabeth, sat at one table, and Rolando sat at another table with several other boys.

After they were seated well enough at the same table, Liz said, "Spill, Sylvia. What do you know of him so far?" As she asked Sylvia that, she and her current table-mates began having their lunches with each other.

"Not much, Liz. I only met him last week, in fact. It happened when I was out with Leila, Sonja, and Ashley, at one of the stores in the Mall. If you'd have been with us then, instead of with Thomas, you'd probably have met up with him, I expect." Sylvia then took a bite of some potato salad on her plate after saying those things here.

"Well, Thomas wanted to take me out to dinner, and then to a movie. So I went with him, for I'd not seen him for a while. You know it's been a while since I was last back in Bristol, Sylvia. I don't see many people from that area around me often enough, it seems." Liz took a few bites of a ham and cheese sandwich on her plate as she said those things here.

Thomas Harker was Liz's boyfriend from Bristol in the United Kingdom. They were now carrying on a long-distance relationship with each other due to her current living situation. They'd been seeing each other romantically since he'd been in 9th Grade and she in 8th Grade, after falling in love with each other during one of her rare trips back to the United Kingdom. They'd known each other for about five years before that, but hadn't really been interested in each other as possibly more than just friends until he'd protected her from a bully in a Bristol-area mall.

"Noted, Liz. When was the last time you were in the Bristol area of Great Britain again?"

As for Sylvia, she hadn't yet had a boyfriend, but she was hoping to have one in the near future, if at all possible. Sylvia had never been very interested in boys in her life, in fact. But that was about to change, for reasons neither she nor anyone else in her life knew yet.

"I was last there around Christmas, I believe."

Sylvia was the first of four children for her parents Nigel and Esther Wakefield. The other three children in her immediate family were two girls and a boy. The boy in her family was Ulysses, and the other two girls in it were Rebecca and Martha.

They and their current table-mates all eventually finished consuming their respective lunches. When they did so, they returned their various dishes and silverware to the necessary places, and disposed of their trash as needed. With that then done, they soon went to their respective next classes, whatever they might be currently.

A few more hours later, after some more classes for her at school, Sylvia went to her new hall locker and put things in it as needed. The school day had just ended when she did that, in fact. She stored a few of her things in it as she saw fit to do that here, and then closed and locked it again.

Minutes later, she met up with Rolando where they'd agreed to try to meet earlier. They briefly conversed with each other, and walked out of the school's main building together. They walked to her mostly dark blue van together, as they got a little acquainted with each other here. She said, "I have a van because I often carry a lot of things in it in my life. For instance, I often carry plenty of plants in it for my garden."

"I see. And where is this garden of yours?"

"I have a garden behind my family's house, Mr. Volois. It isn't very big, mind you, but it's still good-sized. We live a little ways away from here, in a little place we call Wakefield Castle, even though it's not exactly a castle as you might think of it." She got into her van, in very short order, just as soon as she could then do so here.

"I see. And about how big is this place, if I may ask you this, Miss Wakefield?"

"You'll just have to wait and find out, if you and I get to know each other well enough in the future, Mr. Volois. Let's meet this evening at Christ Church, and see if we can return all the necessary things to each other, if at all possible."

"What time, Miss Wakefield?"

"How does 6 pm sound?" Sylvia asked this with a rather inquisitive look on her face as she studied him through her door from behind her van's steering wheel, in fact.

"I suppose I could meet you there then. I usually am at a library then, but I think I can make an exception to my usual routine here, at least once, perhaps."

"Understood. Then please meet me there at that time, if you can."

"Will do. Until then, if you have no further need of me at this time, I'll see you later." She then drove away, as he watched her go.

After she drove off, a friend of his came up to him and asked, "Rolando, who was that girl you were just talking to?" This friend was dark-skinned, about 6'2" and 190 pounds, and his uniform jacket was now off, stuffed inside a small backpack hanging from his left shoulder. He had mostly dark brown hair with light blue streaks in it, and it was roughly chin-length, wherever possible, for him.

"A girl I met at a mall last week, and at lunch today, James. Why do you ask?"

"Do you know very much about her yet?" asked James, who was mainly of Kenyan and Greek descent, with a small smattering of other ethnicities also present in his ancestry.

"No, I don't, in fact. She seems at least a little familiar to me, though, for some reason I don't understand yet, if I ever will." James and Rolando conversed a little while longer with each other, before Rolando left the school grounds for a residence about a mile or two away from them. The residence in question, of course, was his family's residence elsewhere in the city.

Rolando Volois was a boy about a year older than Sylvia Wakefield, but he was still in her grade at DBJHS due to poor academic performance during his first year of seventh grade. Otherwise, he would have just started his senior year in high school. He was from Inverness, Scotland, and he was here because his family had come there due to his father being transferred by his company to the Jerusalem area.

His father worked for a Scottish media conglomerate that mainly consisted of newspapers, film companies, and book publishers. His father's name was Morgan. The Dingwall-born Morgan worked primarily as an editor for one of the conglomerate's book publishing imprints, but also worked part-time as a film producer, whenever necessary, on assorted movie productions for the company.

Rolando was the eldest child of five for his parents Morgan and Emily Volois. His four siblings consisted of two brothers and two sisters. His brothers were Thomas and Bruce, while his sisters were Astrid and Celeste. Thomas was about two years younger than him, Astrid about four years younger than him, Bruce about seven or so years younger than him, and Celeste about eleven or so years younger than him.

Rolando's mother Emily was a stay-at-home mother, generally, in her life, as she'd normally been ever since Rolando had been born, in it. She'd delivered Rolando in February 1973, Thomas in December 1974, Astrid in February 1977, Bruce in July 1980, and Celeste in December 1983. No more children were currently expected to join the Volois family by anyone in it, in fact. The Glasgow-born Emily Brykel had met her future husband Morgan when she was still attending school in the United States for some time, and when he was working for a company that mostly concentrated on producing stationery-related items. They married a few years after she finished college. Before she married him, she worked as a teacher in Minnesota for a few years. After they married, they returned to Scotland together, and settled in the Inverness area, eventually producing their five current children with each other.

When Rolando got back to his family's residence on Lions Gate Road, it was then about 4 in the afternoon. By that time, all his siblings were back from their respective schools in the city, and his mother was reading to his youngest sibling in Celeste and Astrid's bedroom. As for Thomas and Bruce, they were in their bedroom either reading or working on computers, as they saw fit to do at that time. He soon went to his own bedroom, which was just across the main hall from his brothers' bedroom, and next door to the house's main bathroom. His sisters' bedroom was directly across the hall from the main bathroom. As for his parents' master bedroom, it was at the other end of the main hall from the back of the foyer somewhat near the front door.

The main stairs were just off the foyer to the left, as one might enter the residence through the front door. The foyer extended about ten feet into the residence, clearing the main stairwell that led upstairs to the second floor of it, before primarily turning in two directions when it came to a wall directly opposite the front door. Only one doorway was present in that wall, and it led to the living room in the residence. To the right of that wall, and the doorway in it, the main hall began its run through the house as needed. While to the left of both, the foyer turned off toward the kitchen, the living room, and the library, through another hallway. The first two doors that appeared along the run of the main hall were the doors to the main bathroom and his sisters' bedroom, with the main bathroom being the one on the left as one would pass through the main hall. Then came the doors to his bedroom and to his brothers' bedroom, as earlier stated, when the need arose here for both bedrooms' doors to be present.

The first room reached through the other hallway that ran past the main stairwell to the left was the library. One normally went through the library to get to the kitchen, which was behind the library in the residence. The kitchen could also be reached through the living room, if desired. But most of the time, anyone who wanted to get to the kitchen would pass through the library. The library was stocked with many thousands, if not millions, of books, covering a very wide variety of subjects and genres. And it was very common for most of the family's members or their guests to do at least some reading while they were in the kitchen, whenever possible. As for the living room, it was quite common for the family's members to operate the family's shared computers or watch television in it. Three computers were present on desks along the walls of the living room, in fact. Attached to the side of the living room opposite the kitchen, there was a storage room behind Rolando's bedroom. Behind the master bedroom, and attached to the side of the storage room opposite the living room, there was a three-car garage with the entrance/exit being to the right side of the residence as someone might see it from the street when facing the Volois family's residence. A driveway led from the street to the garage as needed.

As for the upstairs part of the house, it had an art studio that Emily would often paint in whenever her five children were in school and her husband was at work doing whatever he needed to do for his company. Also, a well-equipped computer lab and a good-sized storage area were upstairs not far from the main stairs or her art studio. Those three rooms upstairs took up most of the present space upstairs in the residence. The rest of the upstairs part of the house consisted of a small attic and a small laundry room where most, if not all, of the family's laundry was dealt with as needed, whenever possible. Access to the roof was gained through the attic. On the roof, there were two satellite dishes and assorted computer-related towers, so that the family would be able to receive numerous television channels from all over the world and have access to the Internet whenever needed or desired.

There was also a small basement present in the residence that could be accessed through trap doors under some desks in the library. If and whenever necessary, someone could press hidden buttons under the desks' main drawers, and the necessary trap door or trap doors would appear under it or them in short order. The trap door or doors could be lifted up to permit access to the basement. And a person could then slip beneath the desk or desks as needed, so that they could enter that basement quite quickly, most ideally. Beneath each trap door, there was a long ladder leading deep underground to the basement. The basement was rather large, and it had many different rooms in it. For it had been used long before by people hiding out from assorted enemies of the Chosen People over the centuries and/or millennia since the time of Christ, in fact.

The residence's basement had been around much longer than the rest of the residence, which had been constructed, in stages, sometime in the early to middle1940's, before the eventual re-establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948. Part of it had been damaged by Arab terrorist attacks at least once, if not more than once, before the Volois family had most recently moved into it. Primarily where the living room and kitchen now were in the residence, but also partly where the rooms directly above the kitchen, living room, and storage room were, in fact. Wherever and whenever needed, then, assorted previous residents of the house repaired the damage caused by assorted Arab terrorists over the years they were in residence there.

The Volois family had moved into the residence about two months before, more or less. And they were now beginning to make it a home away from home for themselves, even though they all would've rather been back in the Inverness area in their lives, of course. Especially Rolando. For he missed several of his friends from that area of the British Isles quite a bit now in his own life. Even though he'd never yet had a girlfriend in his life, that was still the case here for him in it.

When he entered his room, he soon locked the door behind him. With that done, he then changed out of his school uniform here. Rolando changed his clothes to a navy blue T-shirt with white lettering, a pair of blue jeans, a pair of sneakers, and a bright red sleeveless vest with navy blue piping along the edges wherever needed and appropriate. He then put most of his things in a moderately-sized desk, in various drawers, as he saw fit here. Next, he booted up a personal computer on the desk, and sat down behind it in a swivel-style chair with a medium blue backrest and seat to it. He worked on it for a while, also checking assorted messages in his electronic mail boxes online, where possible and desired here. He did this until just before 5 pm, when he then logged out of one of his accounts on the Internet, and shut down his computer as needed.

After he shut down his computer, he gathered up everything he'd accidentally gotten earlier when he'd unexpectedly encountered Sylvia for the first time, and he stowed those things away in a backpack now sitting on his bed. A bed with an appropriately-sized quilt resting on it which was covered primarily with small versions of the Scottish flag, in fact. Two good-sized plain white pillows were at the head of the bed, and they had pillow cases largely covered with assorted writing-related designs on them. Such as scrolls and/or quills, for instance.

He briefly went to the kitchen, and put together a few sandwiches and other things for himself to have on the way to Christ Church elsewhere in Jerusalem, if not while he was there with Sylvia. By the time he got there, his father was helping his mother prepare supper for the family to have on the current night. He asked his mother, "Do you mind if I go to Christ Church to meet with a classmate of mine for a while, Mother? It seems we encountered each other last week, and got some things that belonged to each other by mistake. I would like to get back the things that they picked up by mistake, then, if I may. May I go there shortly?"

"That's quite a distance from here, I think, Rolando. Is it really necessary for you to do so, as far as you know?" His mother was hoping that he'd only go to the library on the current day, which was what he normally would do on an average weekday in his life.

"It seems it is, for I need my address book back, among other things they picked up by mistake. I'll be taking my car there, and I hope to be back here by 9, if at all possible. Though I don't know yet just how long it will take me to get back here tonight."

Not too much later, then, Rolando was on his way to Christ Church for the expected meeting with Sylvia there. He was there within ten minutes, at most. While he waited for her to appear there, he took out an English-language Bible, and read it for a while. The version of the Bible he read for a while was a King James Version Bible, and it was a Bible his father had given him at a very young age, back in Inverness.

When she arrived just before 6 pm, she parked her van in the church's parking lot. Minutes later, she then found him in the main part of the church. He greeted her pleasantly, and asked, "How are you, Miss Wakefield?"

"I'm fine. I just did some riding on a horse elsewhere in the area, in fact."

"I see. And what's their name, if I may ask you this here?"

"Their name is 'Moonlight Serenade,' if I remember their name well enough here, in fact, Mr. Volois."

"And did you like riding on them?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I quite did. I expect to often ride him in the future, if and whenever possible, when I go riding for a while."

"I see." Eventually, they got tired of making a bit of small talk with each other, and began attending to the returns of the items belonging to each other that they'd each picked up earlier by mistake. By 6:30 or so, then, they finished giving back all the necessary things to each other that the other had picked up during their first encounter with each other while shopping for assorted school-related supplies.

After they did that, he asked, "Have you had your supper yet?"

"No, I haven't. Why do you ask, Mr. Volois?"

"Just wondering. You did say that you were recently riding, did you not?"

"Yes, I suppose I did. I was planning to eat supper back at my residence, in fact, when I got back there later on tonight."

"I see. Would you be willing to go out to eat with me tonight, then?"

"No, I don't think so. As for any other later time, I'm not necessarily saying 'No,' just so you know, Mr. Volois. Supposing, of course, that we might both ever be agreeable to such an idea in our respective lives at least once, if not more than once."

So Rolando didn't press her any longer on such an idea as he'd just suggested to her here. And not too much later, then, the two of them parted from each other with them both having their respective belongings, and only their respective belongings, in their possessions when they parted from each other. They'd most likely see each other again not too much later, in fact, while they were in school the following day.

Rolando soon went to the library he would often go to, and she went back to her own residence for the rest of the evening or night. This would be the last evening or night that they'd be seeing each other before her life was about to change forever, most likely. For little did she yet know, if at all, that she'd eventually find herself fighting assorted beings and people in the future quite often, for quite some length of time.

When she got back to Wakefield Castle, she soon went to her room on the second floor of the Wakefields' residence. Her sisters' bedroom was directly across the main hallway on the same floor from her room. While her brother's bedroom was next door to her sisters' room and directly across that hallway from the upstairs bathroom next door to her room.

There were three good-sized bedrooms upstairs, and they belonged to all of the Wakefield family's children. The largest of them was Sylvia's, while the smallest belonged to Ulysses. Her brother Ulysses wasn't really the kind of guy to require or want a lot of space for his bedroom, so he had the smallest one of the three. Rebecca and Martha's room was larger than Uly's, due to the fact that they shared a room. And Sylvia's room was the largest of the three, for she often worked on various arts and crafts-related things in her room, whenever possible, in her life. Assorted other rooms were also upstairs, if and wherever needed. Including a moderately-sized attic, for that matter.

As for her parents, they had a master bedroom and bathroom downstairs that were a bit larger than the younger girls' bedroom and the upstairs bathroom, respectively, as needed or desired for them both, of course. The kitchen, dining room, and living room were not very far from the master bedroom and bathroom or the front door. Also downstairs, there were a library, a computer lab, and several storage areas. Most of those storage areas were in the form of closets, wherever and whenever possible.

Sylvia's garden could normally be accessed through a sliding door in the dining room. One would exit the main house through that door, and find themselves on the back porch. Then one would walk down some nearby steps on the porch to the ground below them, and walk to a gate flanked on both sides by trellises covered with climbing roses, wherever possible.

Her garden could normally be seen from her room and the upstairs bathroom, for instance, but primarily from her room and the attic, if and whenever possible. And she normally grew roses and assorted other kinds of flowers in it, with some rare exceptions, in fact.

When she went to her room, Rebecca was exiting the upstairs bathroom. They briefly conversed with each other before they went to their respective bedrooms. Sylvia soon went right to work on her homework from the recently-ended day of school. She only exited her room for the rest of the night whenever needed, like for supper, for instance. She eventually retired to her bed in her room by 11:30 pm local time, hopefully not to be disturbed until such time as she'd have to wake up in the morning.


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Meanwhile, as Sylvia and Rolando were still meeting with each other in Christ Church, in the Mohammedan mosque The Dome of the Rock, several people, including assorted Arabs, were present. In one rather isolated room off the main part of the mosque, in fact, a Negaverse General by the name of Jeddite was still setting up a base of operations for himself in the Jerusalem area.

This Jeddite was a Negaverse General serving directly under a quite evil Queen named Beryl. He'd attempt to gather energy for Queen Beryl. He'd do this so that the Negaverse's true leader could hopefully be freed from a prison of sorts, and so could their Negaforce. The Negaverse's true leader was Queen Metallia. And the Negaforce was the Negaverse's armed forces, so to speak. About a millennium earlier, more or less, the Negaverse, the Negaforce, and the Negaverse's leaders had been trapped inside a crystal by a wise Queen of the Moon Kingdom named Queen Serenity.

Serenity had eventually been forced to sacrifice her Kingdom in order to save as many sentient beings and things from it or near it as she possibly could. She'd been forced to sacrifice her Moon Kingdom to do that somehow after Beryl and the Negaverse had attacked it, and nearly destroyed it completely. And after she trapped countless sentients within a crystal she then had, she'd sacrificed her Kingdom to gain futures for as many as she could gain them for with her crystal's help. These countless sentients were generally from either side of the related conflict, by the way. Even at the cost of her own life, she'd sacrificed her Kingdom to save as many sentients and things from it or near it, in fact.

Jeddite had been one of the Negaverse's leaders that'd been trapped by Serenity within her Imperial Silver Crystal. And he'd spent most, if not all, of the last millennium in a state of suspended animation of some sort. He'd only recently regained knowledge of his past as a Negaverse General, once he'd awakened as such somewhere in the Negaverse, and resumed his previous career as such, under Beryl.

Now he was still setting up his Jerusalem-area base of operations somewhere in that very same Mohammedan mosque. And he was doing so quite energetically, if and whenever possible. Only a few people were present quite near him as he did so, in fact. And only those who he'd sworn to absolute secrecy, for he didn't want anyone to find out what he was doing there, if it could possibly be avoided at all. Especially sentients who might have actually survived the Moon Kingdom's end somehow, of course.

He worked for a while longer on his new base of operations, at least until such time as he thought it was possible for him to create various monsters of assorted sorts there for potential future use. Eventually, he finished setting up that base of operations there, and prepared to release his first monster into the Jerusalem local area at the earliest possible time for him to do so.

That first monster would be named Morga, in fact. And they would capture, and control another person's body until such time as their unknowing and unwilling host body died or they were completely forced from it by somebody else entirely.

Somebody like Skyhorse, for example. Skyhorse would shortly find herself fighting against that monster of Jeddite's, and she'd have to defeat them before it was too late for her to do so at all, by the way. Though nobody mortal knew that quite well at the moment, most likely.

After Jeddite had completed all the things that he had to do at the current time in his new base of operations, he donned an Arabic-style outfit, hiding his Negaverse General's uniform from public view again. Deep within part of that outfit, then, he hid a moderately small cube with sides about two inches in size along each edge of it. Inside the cube, there still rested Morga, where she'd rest until such time as Jeddite released her wherever he chose to elsewhere in the city.

Jeddite soon left The Dome of the Rock, and went to the same mall where Sylvia and Rolando had first met each other earlier. He eventually placed Morga's cube in a jewelry store in that mall, behind a counter on the floor, rather secretly. That done, he soon vacated the store where he'd left Morga's cube. Minutes later, from about half a mall away, then, he pressed a button on a remote control in a hidden pocket under his Arabic-style robes, and released Morga from her cube.

Morga soon took over a saleswoman's body, at least in terms of controlling it, though the woman's body still appeared to be just as it should be. As it still would until such time as Morga decided to act as she'd need to in order to hopefully gain energy for the Negaverse, of course. Morga hid herself in the woman's body, not revealing her true nature yet, for it wasn't yet time for her to act here, in fact.

Meanwhile, as Morga, Jeddite, Rolando, and Sylvia were doing whatever then came to mind for each of them, a horse elsewhere in the city was now beginning to get rather restless. This horse had begun to get this rather restless feeling not long after having been ridden by Sylvia earlier that day. This particular horse was mostly black, except for a white blaze on his nose, at least. His name was Moonlight Serenade, and he was about 16 or so hands high at the shoulder. He was now about 4 or 5 years old, more or less. He was now in his stall at the stables where he currently resided. And he had just eaten some hay and drunk some water there when he suddenly began to get restless in his stall there.

He began getting rather restless after a breeze that'd been blowing gently through the stable area where he now was had suddenly picked up for some yet-unknown reason. And eventually, he began vocalizing quite spiritedly. When nearby grooms came somewhat near him to try to find out what was causing him to be rather restless at the moment, he got even more excited. Not yet knowing what the problem or problems were, they soon came to his stall, and unlocked it, so that they could hopefully enter it and check him out much easier. As soon as they'd opened the door far enough to allow him to do so well enough, he shoved his way through the applicable stall door. All while nearly running them all over in the process of his making his escape from his stall. He soon broke into a full gallop, just as soon as he could do so well enough. And he eventually began heading toward where Sylvia's residence was elsewhere in the city, once he'd gotten his bearings well enough in it, in fact. He didn't yet know how, but he'd eventually learn how, he'd found his way to Sylvia's house well enough, of course.

Sylvia wasn't yet home from her meeting with Rolando, but he didn't know that yet, and wouldn't for at least some time, if not a long time. He wouldn't even arrive on her family's premises until she'd gone to bed, for that matter. It'd take him a while to find his way to her house, elsewhere in the city. But he'd eventually do so, just the same. After which, things would progress as needed or desired for him and for her, in fact.

As Moonlight Serenade restlessly searched for Sylvia's residence elsewhere in the city, he also gathered whatever information he possibly could related to it in whatever ways he possibly could gather it here. This was just in case he or others might need to know such information in the future, of course. Up and down several streets all over the city, then, Moonlight Serenade searched for her residence in the city. Even with many cars traveling those streets whenever possible for their drivers here, in fact. Where necessary, he dodged those cars as needed, quite obviously enough. And he continued to search for her house. At least until such time as he was able to find it well enough elsewhere in the city.

When he finally found it well enough, based on a mental impression he'd gotten while searching for it all over the city, courtesy of God above, he came to her house. And he went to the back of the premises near her garden. As soon as he was there, he eventually got another mental impression from God. Which soon told him where Sylvia now was in the Wakefield family's residence. After he experienced that second impression for a long enough period of time, he soon backed up and made a short running leap onto an attached balcony outside her bedroom. He reached it with that leap. Though only just barely did he clear the necessary balcony outside her room, in fact.

He raised his right front hoof, while hoping that he could open one of the doors, if not both of the doors, leading to her bedroom from the attached balcony well enough to allow him access to her bedroom. He couldn't, for they were locked, at least at the current time, anyway. So he began tapping on those doors with that hoof several times, almost immediately. And quite obviously hoping to make enough noise to cause her to wake up well enough at the current time.

After about five or ten minutes of this, Rebecca suddenly came to Sylvia and shook her awake, for she'd heard some yet-unknown noises coming from Sylvia's part of the premises. Nobody else on the premises, except for Moonlight Serenade, of course, had heard such noises besides her, in fact. And everyone else was then quite asleep elsewhere in the house, for that matter. When Rebecca woke up Sylvia, Sylvia asked, "What's the matter, Becky?"

Rebecca told her in very short order. So Sylvia arose from her bed, and turned on a light. Sylvia picked up a riding crop, just in case she might need to use it, from a can near her desk. And she went off in search of what might be making the noises that Becky had been hearing just now. Eventually, Sylvia moved toward her balcony, and prepared to draw the curtains in front of it and the doors leading to it, so as to see what might possibly be making such noises here. As she did so, she suddenly caught a very brief glimpse of a horse's silhouette, and not just on her balcony's railings, in fact. This silhouette belonged to Moonlight Serenade, though she didn't yet know that well enough. As soon as she saw that silhouette, she said to Rebecca, "It seems that the wind might be projecting a silhouette of a horse on my balcony's doors. And possibly doing it while perhaps blowing things to and fro on my balcony, if I'm not mistaken. I think everything will be just fine here in a little while. Just give it a little time, Becky. I'm going to check things on my balcony, to see if that's what the case might be here. Go back to bed, and if I can tell you what was making those noises well enough, I will, just as soon as I can."

"Are you sure you want me to go back to bed now?" Sylvia stood still briefly as Rebecca then asked that of her here. It was now just before local midnight, in fact.

"Yes, Becky, I am. Please do so. If I can do so, then I'll tell you what was making those noises you were just hearing, whenever I can, okay?"

"Fine, Syl. But I'm holding you to that promise, if at all possible, of course."

"Understood, Becky. Now back to bed with you, please." Rebecca did so right away, with no further comment or objection to what her older sister had just said to her, in fact. After Rebecca had left, and she'd secured her bedroom door again, Sylvia resumed her moving toward the balcony outside her room. When she reached the doors, she unlocked them as needed, and slipped through them onto the balcony.

As soon as Sylvia unlocked her balcony's doors, Moonlight Serenade backed away into a part of the balcony near the outside wall of the house, and behind a large potted plant. He hid there briefly until she was far enough onto the balcony, and then suddenly said, while still hidden by that plant and nearby shadows, "Miss Sylvia Wakefield, I have searched for you for a while now. It has been many years since we were last together for a long enough period of time in our lives. Your assistance is now required to battle certain evil beings of assorted kinds from all over the Universe."

"Show yourself, whoever you are, or I will have to hunt you until I find you," said Sylvia, as she continued to check out everything that was then on her balcony, of course. At least to the best of her current ability to do so here, in fact. As she did so, she also flipped a few switches near the outside doors of her balcony. That was so as to hopefully light it up better while she sought to identify the source of those words and noises.

Eventually, those lights coming on forced Moonlight Serenade to show himself to her, and he walked up to her as best as he then could do so here. She asked, "What are you doing here, Moonlight Serenade, if I remember your name here well enough?"

"I am here because a situation has now arisen that requires your attention elsewhere in the city, Miss Sylvia Wakefield. Your assistance with said situation is now required, in fact. Evil people and beings now have begun to stir in this area, and they'll be up to no good here, most certainly. I don't have much time to explain this to you right now. I do know that your immediate assistance is required here now, just the same, Miss Wakefield."

"Horses can't talk, can they? This must be an illusion I'm experiencing here," thought Sylvia, for the obvious reasons, of course. She scratched her head, and then asked, "If you're actually talking, then how am I supposed to help you out here, if you can possibly tell me this here, young horse?"

"You must become the Sailor Scout named 'Skyhorse,' Miss Wakefield. You must fight these people and beings for as long as possible at least until such time as the Moon Princess is found, if not even longer than that. When she is found, you may be able to cease fighting in your life, or you may not. I can't really get into major details about things here, for your immediate assistance is now required."

"And just how do you expect me to help you, seeing as we're conversing on my balcony here, then, young horse?"

Moonlight Serenade suddenly raced as best as he could around her balcony once, stood up on his hind legs after doing so, and spun around to his left twice. He did this until such time as a mostly medium blue blanket materialized suddenly on his back underneath a saddle. After that blanket and saddle materialized on his back, he had her reach under the pommel of his saddle, and she found a neckerchief and a locket there. Then he lowered himself back into a much more normal equine-style orientation, of course.

He had her hold up that locket, in one hand, and the neckerchief in the other, and say as quietly as possible, "Skyhorse Crystal Power." Serenade did this so that if there were any nearby people who were then awake, they'd hopefully not be able to hear her call out her first transformation phrase very easily, if at all. This, of course, was for all the obvious reasons.

She called out that transformation phrase as directed by him as quietly as she could, and a pillar of multi-colored light soon surrounded her while she and Serenade were still on her balcony. A gold tiara with a reddish-brown gem, specifically a garnet, appeared almost immediately on her forehead. A royal blue choker then appeared near the base of her neck. Her neckerchief then appeared just over a sailor-style royal blue collar with two stripes of gold piping all the way around it, wherever possible, and tied as needed there. Her new power locket then appeared just above a knot in the now-tied neckerchief with a checkerboard pattern on most, if not all, of it. The squares in that checkerboard pattern were primarily royal blue and white, with some squares of other colors also present in it. On at least half of the squares in that checkerboard pattern, either there were gold and royal blue six-pointed stars, or there were brown crosses bordered by thin gold lines on the crosses' perimeters, if not both. Often the squares had at least one of each on them at the exact same time, if not more than one of each on them here. Under the neckerchief, then, and on the backs of her new Scout uniform's shoulders, there were also four small brown horse heads at the corners of a rectangle. A rectangle that they were forming outside a larger star than any of them that was placed exactly in the center of that rectangle, but still within the piping along the edges of her collar. And this star was a six-pointed star as well. But instead of this star being royal blue and gold, as were the stars on her neckerchief, this particular star was a white one with gold trim on a royal blue background just below her neck on her collar. The inside hexagon was solidly royal blue inside it. As were the triangles that were inside the lines that formed the sides of that star. The gold trim was only on either side of the white lines between each point of that star, and nowhere else. A royal blue and white skirt that fell at least halfway to her knees, if not farther, below her mostly white blouse, and a pair of moccasins completed the current look of her Scout uniform. A pair of moccasins fringed with rabbit fur and turtledove feathers, in fact. But she'd probably not always wear the same footwear whenever she was in her Scout state as Skyhorse. She'd likely choose her footwear whenever she transformed herself into Skyhorse in the future, whenever she possibly could. Most situations might allow her to do that. But they'd not likely always allow her to do that, if she lasted long enough as a Scout, at any time in the future.

Moments later, then, the rest of the light pillar that'd just surrounded her temporarily here dissolved into thin air, so to speak, if it hadn't already done so. When it was all gone, without any doubt at all, she was fully in her Sailor Skyhorse uniform here. After she realized this, she soon asked, "What should we do now?"

"Secure your balcony's doors with the nearest pipe or something that you can find here, to the best of your current ability, so that nobody can hopefully access your balcony from your room. Then climb onto my back. After you do that, you should see a bridle and the other necessary gear appear where needed on my body, Skyhorse."

She did as he directed her to do here, and soon climbed on his back. He suddenly leaped up, and barely cleared the nearest part of her balcony's railing, as they left her balcony behind. A few seconds later, they landed as safely and as softly as possible on the ground below her balcony, near the entrance to her garden. There was a little bit of a jolt, of course, as they landed on the ground below her balcony, but it wasn't too strong a jolt for either of them, just the same.

Minutes later, they were heading toward the mall where Jeddite had left Morga to eventually act as desired. As they headed there, they conversed with each other for a little while, of course. She asked, "Can't anyone fight these evil beings and people besides me, Serenade?"

"Not at the moment, it seems. You're the only one that I've been able to find and locate so far since I sensed them beginning to stir here a little while ago. Others to fight alongside you against them may appear later. But for the time being, at least, you're the only one that I've found so far that might be able to oppose them in this area."

Skyhorse asked, "How will I know what to say or do in order to fight them, then?"

"I believe the words will come your way when needed, Skyhorse. I don't know exactly what they are yet, of course. But I still have a feeling that they'll come your way during your future battles, no matter what they happen to be, somehow."

As they neared the mall, they wondered just exactly what was waiting for them there. For they began seeing people running away from it in the opposite direction they were going, whenever possible. Others were congregating there, due to Morga's current presence in the mall, for she'd also begun to drain energy from assorted largely random customers in the mall as she'd seen fit to do so currently.

By the time they arrived at the mall, with Skyhorse on Serenade's back, about 100 people or so, more or less, were beginning to wreak havoc. They were beginning to do so in and around the jewelry store that Jeddite had left Morga in. And it was rather considerable havoc, for that matter, in fact.

On the way toward where the disturbance was primarily coming from, Skyhorse found a few art-related supplies, a scabbard, and a sword, among many other things, lying on the mall's floors near two different stores in it. While also trying to avoid being run over or attacked by the people that Morga was now controlling, she picked up a palette, a bow, a quiver of arrows, the scabbard, and the sword. This was so as to have some things that she could hopefully defend herself with against Morga, when the need arose for her to fight them, of course. Eventually, she reached the entrance/exit for the jewelry store where Morga was currently located. And she slipped into the store without Morga yet noticing her presence there.

This was because of the fact that Morga and several other people were proceeding to try to corner several other people in one corner of that store, in fact. When she felt she was far enough into that store, she suddenly shot an arrow above everyone's heads so that it landed near Morga, after getting a brief glimpse at the being in the middle of the crowd there. That being, of course, was Morga.

That stopped Morga and her current crowd short, and they turned to see who'd made them do so. Morga asked, "Who shot that arrow?"

Skyhorse emerged from behind a large supporting pillar in the store, and said, "I did. As one who seeks to serve the One True God of the Universe, I stand as Sailor Skyhorse against all who seek to do evil in His Universe. Leave now, or suffer the justified consequences of your actions, evil being that you are! This is your last warning!"

Morga thought for a moment, then asked, "Who is this One True God of the Universe you speak of, child?"

"This One True God of the Universe is God the Father, who sent Jesus to Earth to save the lost souls of Creation who would accept Him as Lord and Saviour! Make your choice! Life, or Death! The choice is yours!"

"I scoff at your Jesus! Prepare to die, Skyhorse!" shouted Morga, moments later, at most.

"Not likely! Prepare to die, yourself, and prepare to meet your doom!" replied Skyhorse.

Several dozen people began moving toward her, including Morga. As they did, Skyhorse fired more of her arrows in hopes of slowing them down in front of them, where possible. Where needed, she also shielded herself with the help of her palette, which expanded suddenly to an appropriate size for that purpose. She used her shield to protect herself against assorted flying objects and energy blasts, in fact, when she could. However, she took a few hits periodically trying to dodge their assorted attacks, even after leaping up some stairs leading to a second floor of the store she was now in. Mostly on her arms and legs.

As she found herself backing up those stairs under the aforementioned attacks, she eventually found herself having to draw her sword from its scabbard. She drew the sword, and swung it in such a manner that her besiegers were only hit with it by the flatter parts of its blade, if at all possible, of course. For she didn't really want to possibly cause permanent harm to any of the people Morga was then controlling in the jewelry store, for the obvious reasons.

They closed in on her rather quickly, under Morga's control. And they were just about to grab her in a big mass of people, when several pen-like and quill-like items struck the stairs, a nearby catwalk or two, and the store's main floor between her and them. When those items did so, her current opponents ceased moving toward her, and faced toward the person who'd evidently thrown those things toward them.

In another part of the store, there was a young man in a rather simple black tuxedo, black trousers, black shoes, white shirt, navy blue cummerbund, and a red mask on the upper half of his face. A black beard covered the bottom of his face. And he was sitting on Serenade's back near a jewelry display directly across from Skyhorse's current position in it, and barely under a skylight of some sort. Skyhorse looked at him as well, while everyone else in the store then wondered who he was, of course.

He said, "The Pilgrim seeks the true lights of the world, and he feels that this special person may very be one of them. For she seeks to serve the Universe's One True God, and as such, she may be one of those true lights. The Pilgrim will not allow such a light to be snuffed out if he can possibly avoid it at all while he still lives. Cease and desist, you evil demon who now seeks to wreak havoc all over the local area, and return from whence you came, or you shall most certainly die!"

Several energy blasts headed his way, direct from Morga, at least. But he and Serenade dodged them, at least long enough for that young man to reach into an interior pocket of his tuxedo, and withdraw several small apparently empty scrolls from it rather quickly. He threw them in Morga's direction, and when they hit the ground near her, a fog of some sort appeared briefly around her and those people closest to her at the present time. The scrolls sprayed an antidote to the gases that Morga had been using to get other people in the store and mall to wreak havoc and drain energy from assorted people in either, in fact. The fog resulting from the scrolls' hitting of the ground near her soon knocked out the unwilling civilians that had been unknowingly helping Morga here, as well. They all fell silently and limply to the store and mall's floors, in very short order. Only Morga remained standing of all the beings in her current crowd. And only by not getting a strong enough effect from the fog was she not rendered unable to fight at the present time. At least not yet, anyway.

After that happened, the masked man said, "Skyhorse, you should be able to take care of the rest of this battle now. Do your righteous duty, and destroy this demon for the glory of God above! She will not survive, once you do so!" Morga began backing away in fear, looking for a way to escape her fate, once the Pilgrim said that here and now. After he said that, Skyhorse's sword began glowing with a rather bright light, in fact.

"Right, Pilgrim." Skyhorse then made a great leap as Morga frantically tried to get away from her. But Morga still wasn't quite fast enough to evade Skyhorse's sword. As the Pilgrim and Serenade departed the scene, Skyhorse engaged Morga in close-quarters combat. Just three strokes of Skyhorse's sword later, then, Morga was headless, she was cut in half at the waist, and her cube was destroyed. Morga died when her cube was destroyed, for she'd not died instantly upon losing her head and being cut in half at the waist, due to her having been a demon. As for the host body, it was left totally unharmed, due to it being fully restored upon the eviction of Morga from it by Skyhorse when she cut off Morga's head like she had. Morga was forced from the host body when Skyhorse took off her head, never to return to it again. And just to be doubly sure that Morga had been evicted permanently from that host body, Skyhorse had also cut her in half as already stated. Skyhorse's sword also fully restored the host body's lower half as it made doubly sure that Morga could never return to that host body again, in fact. With the host body fully restored to the way that it should be, in any possible way whatsoever, that host body went silently limp just like all the other previously-affected people anywhere in the store and the mall. It did so as Skyhorse then destroyed Morga's cube. Morga's body turned into dust upon the destruction of her cube, and all the energy that she and her unwilling civilian aiders had just gathered was returned to the appropriate beings anywhere at all in the store and mall.

From still another part of the mall, Jeddite saw the ball of energy he was currently carrying secretly shrink, and then disappear into thin air, so to speak, mere seconds after it began shrinking in size. When he saw those things happened, he soon said, in a very upset manner, "Someone is going to pay, and pay dearly for this!" That said, he found a rather isolated place in the mall to hide briefly. No more than a few seconds or so later, he was back in his Jerusalem-area base of operations, and beginning work on his next monster. While also hoping to avoid a repeat of the defeat that he'd just received here, of course.

As soon as her foe was unquestionably dusted once and for all, Skyhorse left the jewelry store behind just as soon as she could do so well enough. She left her weapons and things behind, where needed, when she did so. This was because of the simple fact that they weren't actually hers to begin with, for all the obvious reasons. When it was safe enough for her to do so, she found a rather empty area of the mall to hide in briefly, and soon heard the words, "Skyhorse Crystal Power, Exit," in her head. Those words, in fact, had just been said to her by God, though she didn't yet know that.

When it was safe enough for her to do so, she said those four words, and transformed back to her civilian state as Sylvia Wakefield. It was now about 1:30 in the morning, at the very latest, when she did so. After she did so, she left the mall behind in rather short order.

Just outside the mall, she met up with Serenade, and asked, as soon as it was safe enough for her to do so here, "How come the Pilgrim was sitting on your back earlier?"

"Because he found me while being drawn to the battle, and he asked me if it was all right for him to ride on me to it. I let him climb on my back, so as to help him get to there better, if at all possible." She soon climbed on his back, of course. They began heading back to her house in rather short order, as well.

"Okay. But that doesn't explain how you got so high up in the store and mall above the applicable floors, then."

"God made it possible for us to get that high, just like he did when I jumped up on your balcony, Sylvia. We went to the roof of the store, and came through the skylight. And we were near there when you then saw us together during the battle."

"I see. And do you know exactly who this Pilgrim is yet?"

"No, not yet, but I somehow have this feeling, as I did all during the battle, that he's going to be an ally of ours for some length of time, if not for a long time."

Some length of time later, they were near her balcony again. He leaped back up to her balcony, as needed. And he did that so she could remove the block she'd placed on the doors there. No more than a few moments later, he said, "Good night, Sylvia. Sleep well."

She asked, "Where will you go now, Moonlight Serenade?"

"I must return to my lodgings now, Sylvia. People are undoubtedly looking all over the area for me, since I ran away to get to you like I did. I hope I'm not going to be in trouble for running away like I did with them, of course."

"I'll see you after school today, if I can. Okay, Serenade?" asked Sylvia, hoping that he'd not be in trouble for running off like he did with assorted people at the stables he now resided at. This, of course, was for all the obvious reasons.

"God willing, you will. We have much to discuss for quite a while, Princess. Much to discuss, indeed." Without another word being exchanged between them both, he then left her balcony the same way that he and Skyhorse had left it earlier. She watched him leave her family's premises, and the area around those premises, for a little while, before she left her balcony and went back to bed not too long after that. When she eventually returned to her bed, she then stayed there until she had to arise again for school, in fact. As she slept, any injuries or wounds that she'd received in the course of her first battle as Skyhorse healed themselves quite well, as well, by the way.


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

The following morning, which was the morning of Wednesday, September 5, 1990, in fact, Sylvia woke up around 6:45 in the morning, as she was often known to do. However, she wasn't quite as rested when she did so, due to her still-recent battle. She had slept from about 2 to about 6:45 in the morning, after eventually arriving back in her bed again. It wasn't a totally peaceful sleep for her, but it wasn't totally unrestful for her either. She dreamed of long-ago kingdoms and empires, for instance, not yet knowing why. And in those dreams, she often saw people who seemed to be at least a little familiar to her, though she didn't yet know why, for that matter.

Little did she yet know that those people might eventually show up around her in her life. But that was yet to be seen, if and whenever possible, in the future. In the meantime, though, she now would have to adjust to her new life as Sailor Skyhorse, for she'd just begun a battle that promised no definite end in sight against any number of evil beings in the Universe. Sylvia had no idea exactly what to expect in the future, as she fought those beings as Sailor Skyhorse, but she now knew things had most definitely changed for her in her life. Whether she liked it or not, the life she once knew was most likely gone forever. Or at least for quite a long time, if her recent battle was any indication, anyway.

Sylvia also didn't know just how Moonlight Serenade knew her, and from where. But that would eventually change, in time, if and whenever possible. In fact, about a millennium before, she had been an Israelite Princess and he had been one of her horses before she and so many other people and things had been sent to the future by a Queen who was now long-dead from the Moon. She had been visiting with friends there, and so had some of her horses from her home in Israel, at that time, before the Negaverse had come to the Moon fully intent on either conquering or destroying it. The Negaverse was too strong for the Moon Kingdom to oppose directly. But not too strong to keep Queen Serenity from saving as many sentients and things from it as possible so that she could send them to the future somehow. Sylvia and Moonlight Serenade were among those numerous sentients that she was somehow able to save, when she trapped them in her crystal, and sent them to the future.

In time, Sylvia had been born to a brand-new set of parents in her life. This was after spending nearly a millennium in some form of suspended animation, due to her being trapped in a globe of some sort until such time as her presence was required again in the Universe, in fact. The parents she'd been born to in the 20th Century weren't exactly like the ones she'd been born to in the 10th Century. But they were still somewhat similar, just the same. There were differences between both sets of parents for her, however. Differences which eventually would become apparent over time, as she continued her new career as Sailor Skyhorse, of course.

Her parents in the 20th Century had the same names, for instance, as her parents of the 10th Century. However, her modern parents were not royals from Israel, or anywhere else, for that matter, on the Earth she now knew in her life. Nor were they ever likely to be, if Israel ever became a monarchy again in their lifetimes.

She wouldn't necessarily act as she'd ever acted in her life of about a millennium before. But she'd still be much like she had been then, in time, once she'd regained more, if not all, of her memories of the past she was once part of in her life. Just not until such time as circumstances ever permitted her to regain them, most likely. Such as assorted events that might occur for her and/or other people in assorted battles, for example.

In the meantime, though, she'd have to adjust to her changed life, for the obvious reasons, as quickly as she possibly could do that. Starting with the first day of the rest of her life, in fact.

Sylvia woke up around her usual time, and soon had showered and dressed in her school uniform as necessary here. After she was done with those kinds of things, she got herself some breakfast of raisin bran cereal, orange juice, and assorted other food and drink items. Some time after finishing her breakfast, then, she left the Wakefield residence in her van, and went to school, as usual.

When she eventually encountered Elizabeth in her first class of the day, Elizabeth was in conversation with several of their classmates about some recent events in the area. Sylvia soon tapped Liz on a shoulder, coming up behind her as she did so, and asked, "What are you all talking about here, Liz?"

"The morning news was all abuzz about some strange occurrences at a local mall here in Jerusalem. They seem to think that there was a monster running wild in that mall, and most specifically in a jewelry store there, Sylvia. This was apparently the case for some time, before a strange pair of people fought the monster there, and won against them."

"Oh, is that so? Would you care to tell me about this battle that apparently was fought in that mall, then, Liz?"

So Liz told everything about the battle that she'd actually heard from the morning news and from other people in her life. She didn't know that Sylvia had actually been there, nor would she ever know that, if she never became a Scout as well. Supposing that Sylvia and any other people then with her in the future as Scouts or allies of the Scouts could ever keep her from learning that, of course.

She didn't know everything about the battle, at least not yet, if she ever would. Hopefully, of course, she never would know everything about it, if it could possibly be avoided at all. And only if she never actually became a Scout or an ally to the Scouts, for that matter.

"Why do you think they were trying to wreak havoc in the mall, Liz?"

"I have no idea why. Perhaps they didn't like the merchandise they were either selling or seeing in the mall at that time. Do you have any ideas about why they might have possibly wanted to trash a store or stores in that mall, by any chance, Sylvia?"

"Not really, Liz." Which was perhaps a half-truth, at least, if not either more than or less than that. Sylvia had a few ideas now, after having silently thought about the battle while still heading to school in her van, but nothing sufficiently concrete yet that she could put her finger on well enough. Or anything that she could possibly mention to anyone else who wasn't part of her new fight, for the obvious reasons, for that matter.

Whenever she had the need or desire to talk to Liz or anyone else in the room during the rest of the period, she then did so. But for most, if not all, of it, she generally worked on a new assignment that her World History teacher had just given the class here. It wasn't one that related to the one where she would have to create a fictitious nation, but it was still a new assignment, just the same.

Eventually, the period in question ended, and she parted from Liz and the rest of her classmates, where necessary here, so that she could get to her next class. Which was a foreign language class, in fact. The foreign language in question she was taking a class in here was Spanish III, for she'd taken Spanish classes her last two years at DBJHS. If at all possible, she would take Spanish IV the following year there, of course.

Some time later, after that class and others between it and lunch were over for her, she went to the main cafeteria again, just as she had the day before. Quite naturally enough, she encountered Rolando again in the line leading to the cafeteria's lunch counters. This time, Liz wasn't in the line, at least not when she got to the cafeteria, for she'd already received her food from the necessary personnel there.

They briefly conversed with each other, before getting their lunches. They received their lunches, and soon split up with each other so that they could sit at different tables. However, he sat at a table closer to her table, due to the facts being that several of his friends were there and that their usual table was occupied by other lunching students at the present time.

As they ate at their respective tables elsewhere in the cafeteria, they periodically tried to sneak peeks at each other, whenever they thought nobody else in it could see them doing so well enough. Especially Rolando, for he'd had a dream of some sort about her as he'd slept in his bed earlier, after his departure from her while they were still at the church.

It was a similar dream to the one that she'd had, by the way. Though he didn't yet know about her dreams of long-ago kingdoms and empires, for the obvious reasons. And he didn't know why he'd had that dream as well. Nor would he know until such time as he learned a lot more things in his life, most likely.

He didn't know this well enough, at least not as far as he could then recall, but he had been the Pilgrim who'd aided Skyhorse in her recent battle against Morga. He had unknowingly left his room, gone to the family's garage, and driven off in his car, without him or anyone else in his family realizing it.

A little while later, he'd silently parked his car in the mall's parking lot. And he was eventually drawn to the location of the battle, while also meeting up with Moonlight Serenade on the way there. When he'd arrived at the mall, he'd eventually found the clothes he'd been wearing while fighting against Morga and others on his person without knowing how they got there, or realizing they were there, in the first place. Also, he'd unknowingly found himself with some other items in his possession, such as pen-like, quill-like, and scroll-like items, for example.

He didn't know it yet, but those kinds of things would often be available to him in the future as he fought alongside Sylvia's Skyhorse as Pilgrim. This, of course, was for all the obvious reasons, in fact.

As the battle had raged, elsewhere in the mall, he'd found himself near Moonlight Serenade, and had ridden him to an upper level of the necessary store in it. From then on, he was part of the battle for as long as he and Serenade were still sufficiently present in the area of it.

Eventually, he'd no longer needed to be there, and left, just as soon as the need for him to be there was gone. He'd eventually parted from Moonlight Serenade, returned to his car, and drove back home, not transforming back into his civilian state until he was far enough away from where the battle had just been fought in the mall. Of course, he'd done that before returning all the way back to his family's residence, for all the obvious reasons. He rather silently parked his car back in the garage, exactly where he'd had it parked earlier, and eventually returned to his room just like he'd left it. All while still not realizing at all just what'd happened for him or for anyone else here, for that matter.

Both he and Sylvia ate their respective lunches in relative silence, whenever possible, at their tables in the cafeteria. Little, if at all, did they yet know that they'd often be fighting battles alongside each other in the future. God willing, of course.

Eventually, of course, they had to go to their next classes in school. They didn't see each other again until just after school. When they did, Rolando asked, "Have you heard yet about what happened last night and this morning in the same mall that we first encountered each other at, Miss Wakefield?"

"Yes, I have, Mr. Volois. Rather strange, wouldn't you say?"

"Perhaps so. I wonder who fought the monster then. There were apparently two people there fighting that monster. One seemed to have some sort of tuxedo outfit, while the other one seemed to be wearing some sort of sailor-style outfit. I wish I knew why those two looked like that, if they did, when they fought that monster."

"Perhaps you might find that out someday. They won, didn't they?" Of course, she already knew they did so. But she didn't know how much Rolando knew about the battle yet, so she asked him that question here.

"From what I've heard from others around school today, they apparently did. And after they fought the monster, they disappeared, and nobody knows where they went at the current time, it seems."

They conversed pleasantly with each other, even while he walked with her to her van. Shortly thereafter, once she'd put her backpack in the front-row passenger's seat, she drove away from school and to the Jerusalem-area stables Moonlight Serenade now stayed at. When she got there, she soon saw a groom trying to pull Moonlight Serenade out of his stall with a rope in the form of a lasso. The groom also had a whip in his left hand, which he was trying to use to get Serenade to move toward the door of his stall, while also pulling him with the other hand that held the rope lasso in it.

Sylvia saw that, and became very angry very fast. She proceeded to grab up a riding crop and head directly for Serenade's stall, hoping to get the groom to stop mistreating Serenade here, of course. A minute after seeing the groom mistreating Serenade, she was in Serenade's stall using the aforementioned riding crop like a sword of sorts to defend him to the best of her current ability. Several well-placed strokes of her crop later, then, the groom fled the scene, so that she'd not be able to whale on him more in defense of Serenade.

After he was sufficiently gone, Sylvia asked, as she freed Serenade from the lasso around his neck, and tossed the whip the groom had tried to use on him quite far away from them both, "Why was he trying to whip you and pull you out of the stall, Serenade?"

"Because I'd run out of the stall earlier, and he was one of the grooms I very nearly ran over when I went to find you last night. He's still quite mad at me, and this won't likely help his disposition toward me. In fact, it'll probably make it worse, from what I can currently gather in relation to him." She began checking him over for any injuries, et cetera, very carefully, for all the obvious reasons here.

"Well, no horse should be treated like you were being treated by him, if it can possibly be avoided at all. We might have to find you a new place to stay, if he stays employed here."

"I also believe he might possibly have ties to the Negaverse somehow. If so, I don't yet know what kind of ties to the Negaverse he might have, Sylvia." Sylvia found no significant enough injuries, et cetera, to Moonlight Serenade at the current time. Which soon made her somewhat happy, of course. However, not totally happy, due to the fact that there was a barely noticeable ring around his neck from where the rope lasso had been around it.

Just then, the owners of the stable came to just outside Serenade's stall. "Miss Wakefield, a groom just said you attacked him there."

"Only because he was mistreating this horse here, Mr. Sherman. Otherwise, I wouldn't have interfered with his handling of this horse, sir."

"Do you have proof of that, Miss Wakefield?"

"Yes, I do. Come look at his neck, if you want proof, Mr. Sherman. There is a barely noticeable ring around it from where the groom in question had put a rope lasso around Moonlight Serenade's neck, intending to pull him out of his stall." She soon let him into the stall, and Mr. Sherman viewed the ring that Sylvia had just told him about.

Seconds later, after looking it over well enough, Mr. Sherman said, "Danielle, she's right. Moonlight Serenade has a ring around his neck like Miss Wakefield said. Call the authorities and have Mr. al-Jabir taken into custody for animal endangerment, and all other necessary charges here. Ahmed, you're fired. Reuben and Timothy, make sure he doesn't get away before they can take him away."

Two other good-sized grooms then grabbed Ahmed and restrained him as needed until the necessary law enforcement authorities arrived, and took him away. Ahmed tried to break free of his restrainers, so as to get at Mr. Sherman, Sylvia, and Moonlight Serenade, but was completely unable to do so. For they held him down, and tied him sitting down to a nearby post of the stable, so that he couldn't get away before the police arrived to take him away to jail where needed.

The police soon took statements from all the necessary people here, and took Ahmed away not too long after that. After Ahmed was carted off to jail, arrested on the required charges, Mr. Sherman asked, "Sylvia, what do you think of this horse?"

"I like him very much so far, I think. I think he and I will get along quite well in the future, for some yet-unknown reason. May I ride him any time I so choose, if at all possible?"

"Of course. We got him recently, in fact."

"How long ago, if I may ask you this?"

"About two or three weeks ago, I think."

"Where from?"

"A family with rather strong ties to the Thai Embassy who had to return to Thailand just a little while ago, it seems. They sold him to us no more than about two or three days after they all got the news they had to return shortly to Thailand. And assorted other horses of theirs might also be purchasable by us from them. Horses that were actually born here in Israel, mind you, but still owned by them, in fact."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yes. There is one female horse by the name of Princess Caralina who we might be able to purchase from them soon, for example. They had to put their many horses on the market when they had to return to Thailand just a little while ago. And we put in bids for them with all the necessary people handling the selling of their horses. We hope to acquire several of their horses in time, if at all possible, in fact."

"If I wanted to buy Moonlight Serenade from you, hypothetically, supposing I could do so well enough, how much would it probably cost me?"

"$100,000, perhaps." The two of them soon led Moonlight Serenade out to a nearby riding area, so that Sylvia could eventually ride him like she'd originally planned to do when she'd arrived at the stable earlier.

"I don't have that kind of money available to me, I believe, Mr. Sherman." She mounted him as needed, in very short order, with a little help from Mr. Sherman, if necessary here.

"I figured as much. You make a considerable amount with your paintings, I'm sure, but not enough to pay that much rather easily for him right now, I believe. Am I right?" Mr. Sherman went behind a nearby fence, once she was set well enough on Serenade's back.

"Yes, you are. I make some money selling off copies of my paintings that have appeared in local art galleries, but nothing like that much money, it seems to me." She began riding him a bit, while Mr. Jonah Sherman watched, and conversed with her, whenever possible.

"And what about your quilts?"

"I don't sell them. I keep them after I make them, generally. At least for the ones that I choose not to give to anyone else. I also don't sell the ones I often make for other people close enough to me in my life, Mr. Sherman. I make a little money showing them off at quilting-related shows, for your information. But I never sell any of my quilts to anyone. At least I've never done so yet, that is." She soon had Serenade at a trot as she rode him here.

"My niece Kiena Jacano seems to like your work to at least some degree. So do at least a few other people, from what I've heard of late. Are you intending to make either painting or quilting your professional career, when you get done with your academic endeavors?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Then what would you like to do, if you can?"

"Perhaps be a horse doctor or something like that, if it's possible for me to do that in my life later on, Mr. Sherman."

Moonlight Serenade suddenly tensed, and seemed to suggest to her that he wanted to go riding elsewhere. Sylvia soon bent her head down and put it near one of his ears, and whispered just as quietly as she could, in a questioning manner, so that Jonah hopefully couldn't hear her, "What's on your mind, Serenade?"

"Have Jonah let me out of here, Sylvia, for we need to talk in private, if at all possible, as soon as possible." Serenade said this as quietly as he could to her. And he did so in such a manner that seemed to suggest to Mr. Sherman that he was actually whinnying and neighing just to her here, in fact.

Moments later, Sylvia led him out of the riding area that he'd just been in with her. And they went riding for a while in the area. They eventually found themselves on a hill several miles away from the stables where he'd been staying since his original arrival at them. About five minutes after that, at around 6:30 pm, Serenade found a tunnel leading underground wide enough and gradual enough into that hill. It was perhaps wide enough for at least two or three vehicles to be able to pass through it side-by-side, if and whenever the need or desire ever arose for the drivers or riders of those vehicles to do so at all. And they only found it after an opening suddenly appeared in the side of the hill without any warning. Little did they yet know that this place might prove to be one of their main bases of operation in the Jerusalem area, if not their only one, in fact.

Of course, they didn't know yet what to expect in relation to the tunnel or its just-seen opening. When they entered the tunnel, quite cautiously, some torches eventually flickered to life, once they were far enough into the tunnel. After they were, the opening that they'd seen closed up right behind them both. Another torch suddenly flew out of a nearby sconce, as they passed the first bunch of torches in the tunnel, and flew through the air toward an unlit lantern on a pillar near the entrance they'd just come through into the tunnel. The lantern's top lifted enough to allow the torch to light the lantern, and then the lantern flew directly toward Sylvia's now-free left hand. As it did so, the torch that'd just lit it returned to its previous position in the tunnel.

For about another five minutes or so, then, the two of them went down the tunnel until they came to a rather large cavern about 600 feet or so below ground, more or less. It eventually flattened out after they'd been underground for about fifteen or so minutes since entering the tunnel. The average diameter of the cavern they eventually found themselves in was about 400 yards, if and wherever possible for it. Several dozen nooks were attached to it, either directly, or by assorted nearby tunnels leading from that cavern to them. None of those nooks, however, was directly attached in any way to the tunnel that they'd accessed that cavern through, in fact. They were only attached to the main cavern or to other nearby tunnels.

They both explored the cavern at quite considerable length, of course. As they did so, Moonlight Serenade eventually said, "This cavern might just be an excellent location for our base of operations in this area of Israel, Sylvia. Or at least one of them, when we're not having to be in the city at all, of course, that is."

"But?"

"We'll need to have a base of operations in the city, I think, for the obvious reasons. And we'll need a way to get between our respective bases of operations in the area, whenever needed or desired, as well, it seems to me."

"How about how we got here now?"

"That might not work well all the time. Horses are generally not the main means of ground transport any longer in this world. So it might not always be easy for you to ride me here, Sylvia. And if you tried to go all over the area with a horse trailer attached to your van too often, it might get unwanted attention from our new Negaverse enemies."

They explored the cavern and the nearby tunnels and nooks until about 8:30 pm or so local time, often with her on foot, before Serenade asked, "What time do your parents usually expect you home on Wednesday nights, Sylvia?"

"They usually expect me home by 11 pm or so on that night of the week. Why do you ask, Moonlight Serenade?" asked Sylvia, as she checked a watch from her backpack, which she'd brought with her to school earlier that day, in fact.

"It seems to be getting rather late, as far as I can tell, Sylvia. That's why I asked you that here, in fact."

"I see. And how long might it take us to get back to your stable from here, if we go as straight as we possibly can, then, Serenade?"

"Perhaps we can be there within thirty minutes or so, if we leave very quickly from here now, Sylvia." He began almost immediately after saying that to head down the tunnel that they'd accessed the cavern from, and she soon followed him. First at a walk, then at a faster walk, and finally at a dead run, until she eventually caught up with him again. When she caught up with him again, she then leapt quite easily onto his back here.

From then on, until they got somewhat close to the riding area they'd earlier left from, she stayed on his back if and whenever possible. And they often conversed with each other as they made their way back to that place. They did this for most of the twenty or thirty minutes they both took in order to return to the place from where they'd gone earlier that evening. Though not all of it. This, of course, was for all the obvious reasons.

Eventually, by about ten or fifteen minutes after 9 pm local time, they were back there and he was back in his stall there, with her attending to all his current needs, once they got back there with each other. As she was feeding and watering him, and making sure he had good bedding, Reuben and Timothy soon showed up around his stall again.

Reuben and Timothy greeted her warmly, and asked how he was now. Sylvia said, "Just fine, since Ahmed was stopped from mistreating him like I stopped him, it seems, Reuben and Timothy. We had a great time with each other tonight, in fact."

Reuben Norwood, a half-Israelite, half-Lesothon man about 6'6" and about 220 pounds, with a well-muscled build and somewhat darker skin, said, "That's good. A horse as intelligent and as good-looking as Moonlight Serenade, for example, should never be treated the way that he was by Ahmed, in my opinion. No matter what."

"Or any horse, for that matter, by logical extension, Reuben?" asked Timothy Aristophales Patangisopolis, a man about 6'2" and 180 pounds with Greek ancestry through his paternal grandfather, Dutch ancestry through his maternal grandfather, Israelite ancestry through his paternal grandmother, and Chinese ancestry through his maternal grandmother. He had moderately tanned skin, unlike Reuben's deep brown skin. A scar from a car accident when he was about fifteen years old still remained on the left side of his neck near his chin. That scar had resulted from a piece of metal that had bent and flashed out of its proper place for a back-seat passenger's side window during the accident in question. The car he'd been riding in about a dozen or so years before had been hit by a drunk driver during a trip to visit relatives of his in the Dutch city of Rotterdam. He and five others had been in the vehicle, which had been totaled, but no fatalities had resulted from the accident in question, at least not in the car he was then in. Some serious injuries were suffered by people in his vehicle. His meaning the one that he was then in, in fact, for he wasn't the one driving that vehicle, of course. The driver of the other car had been killed almost instantly after the crash, and one died later. Two others in the drunk driver's car survived with moderate to minor injuries, generally, for them both.

"Of course, Timothy," answered the roughly 42-year-old Reuben, who had a niece who also attended DBJHS with Sylvia. He'd recently been made a widower, no thanks to a still-recent Arab terrorist bomb placed on a city bus near the Flowers Gate elsewhere in Jerusalem. His wife and one of their three children had been on that bus, and they were killed when the bomb exploded just in front of and below their seats on it. Their other two children had been visiting relatives in northwestern Israel at the time. So they'd not been killed when that Arab bomb had blown up the aforementioned city bus. He'd lost his second son Josiah and his wife Helena in that attack. While his daughter Nelana and other son Moses had been in Haifa visiting relatives on his father's side of the family.

"I'd like you both to take real good care of him as often as possible whenever you're here, and I'm not, if that's not too much of a problem for you both here, guys," said Sylvia. "For I have a feeling that I'll often want to be with him quite a bit in the future."

Reuben nodded at her, as he and Timothy watched her work quite well with preparing Serenade's stall for his use here, in fact. He and Timothy watched her for some length of time, while she did so, before Reuben said, "You seem to be quite familiar with horse care, Sylvia."

"I've always been interested in horses in my life for as long as I can remember, for some yet-unknown reason, Reuben. Even from a very young age, I've always been quite interested in them, it seems to me."

Reuben nodded pleasantly at her again, and then said,."I think that the two of us can do as you'd like us to do here, whenever you're not around and we are. At least to the best of our respective abilities, of course." He said that after briefly looking at Timothy, who was also his best male friend in his life, for that matter.

The three of them conversed quietly with each other for a while longer, until Serenade somehow let Sylvia know that she'd then done enough in his stall at the current time for him. Not long after that, then, Sylvia parted from Reuben, Timothy, and Serenade, just as soon as she could do so well enough.

She went to another part of the stable complex, which was quite secluded from other areas of it, where possible, and to a shower room in that part of it. Several minutes after doing that, she had showered in complete privacy, and had changed her clothes to others she'd brought with her in her backpack, in fact.

After doing that, she soon left the entire stable complex, and went back to her family's residence elsewhere in the Jerusalem local area. She got there around 11 pm local time, and to her room not too long after that. She briefly stopped off in the Wakefields' kitchen for a bedtime snack or something, and in the appropriate bathroom, before returning to her room for the rest of the night, of course. She was quite soundly asleep in her bed again by local midnight, in fact. And lost in at least one, if not more than one, more dream about the past she wasn't yet quite familiar enough with in her life, for that matter.


	5. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

The following Monday, Jeddite was about to finish work on another monster in his new Jerusalem base of operations. He soon stored it in a cube similar to the one that Morga had been in before she'd been released to gather energy, in fact. After doing so well enough to suit himself well enough, he donned his Arabic-style outfit again, hiding this cube in them like he'd hidden Morga's cube in them earlier.

He eventually left The Dome of the Rock again, in full Arabic disguise, for his next chosen place to try to wreak havoc anywhere at all elsewhere in the Jerusalem area. He chose to hail a taxicab not too long after doing so. Jeddite soon asked the Israelite Arab then behind the taxicab's steering wheel to drive him to a video/book/music store elsewhere in the city. It was just after 4:50 pm local time by the time they got there, due to some unexpected delay caused by a multi-car accident on the way there. After which Jeddite paid the driver the appropriate fare for his trip there, plus a bit of a tip, of course.

Jeddite paid the needed driver for the ride, as necessary. And he soon left the cube near a door to a storage room elsewhere in that store, before suddenly slipping out of the store in a crowd of people that were congregating there now. He then walked about two blocks or so away, at least, to the north, from that same store, before pressing a button to release that monster, just as he'd done with Morga, from their cube.

Soon after he did so, the monster invisibly left their cube, and took control of a sales clerk there, as they were heading for the storage room. The clerk didn't give up control of their body easily enough to allow the still-invisible monster to control them at least until they were behind that room's closed door for a long enough time. But the still-invisible monster still eventually gained control of that clerk, and prepared to wreak havoc, once they left the storage room behind again, of course.

Meanwhile, Sylvia was then with several other people and horses, at Serenade's stable. Including, in fact, Liz, Sonja, and Ashley. Sonja was an Austrian girl from the Salzburg area, while Ashley was currently from the Hartford area of Connecticut in the United States. Both their families were associated with the Jerusalem-area Embassies of their respective nations. However, their fathers weren't quite as high-ranking in their nation's respective diplomatic corps as Elizabeth's father was for the United Kingdom's, by the way.

As for the Leila that Sylvia had mentioned earlier to Liz, she was the daughter of two archeologists. One an Israelite, and one an Ethiopian. Her father was the Ethiopian, while her mother was a native of the Israelite city of Nazareth. They'd met while in college overseas in Japan, of all places. Little did Leila or anyone else in Sylvia's life yet know that they were most likely distantly related to at least one of Sylvia's possible future opponents as a Scout. Including, Sylvia, of course. If they'd ever know that, by the way.

All of a sudden, as Sylvia was brushing Serenade with a grooming brush on his sides, where needed, Serenade tensed. As soon as Sylvia realized that well enough, she said, "Liz, go tell Mr. Sherman that Moonlight Serenade and I are going for a ride right now, please."

"Why?"

"I really don't have time to explain right now, if I ever will, Elizabeth. Just do it as soon as you can, please."

"Where are you going, then?"

"I really don't know. I just know that we both have to go for a ride right now. I'll see you later, if I can, Liz and all." She then handed the grooming brush to the nearby Sonja, just before swinging suddenly up onto Moonlight Serenade's back here, in fact

Five minutes later, they were off the stable complex's grounds at full speed, heading off toward wherever Moonlight Serenade was now going here. They both left them without another word being exchanged between Sylvia and her friends. And they both left them even with the grounds' main gates closed, in fact, for he leapt suddenly over them as he needed to, under her control, if necessary.

Through the nearby streets, they went, just as quickly and as safely as possible, of course. When he finally felt it was safe enough to speak to her, he said, "It seems we have a new monster to fight, Sylvia. I'm getting an impression in the direction of a video/book/music store elsewhere in the city. It seems another monster has appeared there, and is beginning to try to wreak havoc there as much as it can."

For a little while longer, at least, they continued heading toward that store as best as they could do so at the current time. In time, however, she had to dismount from his back, for the obvious reasons. After she did, she soon found a deserted alley near the store in question. While there, she also found a sword, a scabbard, and a shield in or near a few garbage cans in it. After transforming when it was as safe as possible for her here at the current time, she picked up that sword, that scabbard, and that shield. And Skyhorse then set off for the necessary store in the immediate area.

Two minutes later, at most, she was there, and just inside its main entrance. The monster was currently working on draining energy from assorted customers and store personnel when she entered. Skyhorse asked, "Who are you, demon?"

"I am Pallia, and who are you?"

"I am Sailor Skyhorse, servant of the One True God. You have decided to wreak havoc in a place where people can come to purchase various entertainment-related media, and for this, you shall not be forgiven! I stand as Sailor Skyhorse against all who seek to do evil in His Universe. Leave now, or suffer the justified consequences of your actions, evil being that you are! This is your last warning!"

Pallia was a monster with video cameras for her eyes, stereo speakers for her ears, clothes that apparently looked like various printed materials, computer cables for most, if not all, of her fingers and toes, and assorted other items of various kinds for the rest of her. Her mouth was like a shredder, at least for the most part, if not entirely, for example.

"Serve us in the Negaverse, or face the consequences, Sailor Skyhorse."

"Not likely! I shall never serve your evil Queens or their false god Satan!"

For a while, then, the two of them fought as the need or desire arose for them here. Several times, Pallia tried to bind Skyhorse with several computer cables, even ones that weren't actually part of her person. But Skyhorse was able to keep her from doing that with some well-placed strokes of her sword. And some well-met blocks she put up with her shield, for that matter.

Eventually, Pallia attempted to gain an advantage over Skyhorse by trying to get assorted people in the store to trap her in a corner of it to at least some degree. But Skyhorse was somehow able to keep them from trapping her well enough. Especially when Pilgrim tossed a few pen-like and quill-like items between her and them, in fact.

When he did so, everyone in the store who was trying to trap her in it stopped doing what they were then trying to do in it, in order to try to find out where his projectiles had come from in it. This, of course, was for all the obvious reasons.

The Pilgrim appeared on top of an otherwise-empty shelf elsewhere in the store, after a bit of fog then around him dissipated well enough to allow everyone in the store to see him here. He was sitting on that shelf with legs hanging over the edge where needed here, when he appeared to everyone else in the store. As before, he was wearing the same outfit he'd been wearing during his previous appearance as Pilgrim. He quickly surveyed the situation, and then said, "The Pilgrim seeks the true lights of the world, and many, if not all, of the people who provide the assorted media in this store may very be among them. The Pilgrim will not allow any such light or lights to be snuffed out if he can possibly avoid it at all while he still lives. Cease and desist, you evil demon who now seeks to wreak havoc in this store, and return from whence you came, or you shall most certainly die!"

Several cables and assorted other things came toward him at that time, no thanks to assorted people in the store, including Pallia, of course. But he dodged them by jumping off the applicable shelf and running as needed in the store until he was able to withdraw several scrolls from an interior pocket of his tuxedo. He threw them as he saw fit, and a fog larger than the one that he'd earlier emerged from soon shrouded him, and broke Pallia's control over everyone else who was then unwillingly helping her against Skyhorse. Only Pallia remained sufficiently able to stand up after he'd thrown his scrolls as needed here, for the obvious reasons.

After that happened, Pilgrim said, "Skyhorse, you should be able to take care of the rest of this battle now. Do your righteous duty, and destroy this demon for the glory of God above! She will not survive, once you do so!" Pallia began trying to find a way out of her current situation, seeing that all her unwilling assistants had just been put into unconsciousness, and that the energies she and they had just been gathering for the Negaverse were starting to return to their respective owners. She did this after Pilgrim said that, by the way. After he said that, Skyhorse's sword began glowing with a rather bright light, in fact. As it did, he left, stepping carefully over assorted people as he did so.

Five minutes or so, at most, later, after a bit of a sword duel between Skyhorse and Pallia, Pallia had been permanently evicted from her host body, and destroyed just as Morga had been, by Skyhorse. As had happened before with Morga, against Skyhorse, she was evicted and destroyed in the same manner or manners that Morga was. And the applicable host body was completely restored under Skyhorse's blade as necessary.

When Pallia was destroyed, Jeddite's current ball of energy disappeared just like his previous energy ball had. Obviously, that made him quite upset again, of course, and he again vowed to find out who was ruining his plans for energy-gathering, if and whenever possible. He soon set off again for his base of operations, in order to begin his work on creating and preparing another monster for action here, for the obvious reasons.

Not too much later, then, Skyhorse slipped out of the store as well, found a safe enough place to power down, and did so. She powered down, after putting the sword, scabbard, and shield in a subspace pocket of sorts that she'd just discovered during her battle with Pallia. And she soon went in search of Serenade again. Sylvia found him about ten minutes after she powered down, and he was drinking from a fountain in a nearby city park when she did so. It was just after 6:15 pm local time when she found him again, in fact.

She soon mounted him again as needed, and they eventually returned to the stable complex they'd been at with Liz, Sonja, and Ashley earlier. As they did so, they discussed the just-ended battle that Skyhorse had fought against Pallia if and whenever possible. When she told him she'd discovered a subspace pocket of sorts for herself during the battle, he was quite surprised, in fact. For he'd not expected her to have one at all, or at least not for some time, in actual reality.

"Perhaps now you'll be able to store things in it quite often, Sylvia, so that you'll have easier access to them in the future, if and whenever needed."

"You think so?"

"It seems to me that the Scouts of the past normally had a subspace pocket of sorts they could access periodically if and whenever needed or desired, Sylvia. I believe you had one as well then, when you were a Scout long ago."

"I see. And was I Sailor Skyhorse then as well?"

"I believe that you were. But you weren't actually the original Sailor Skyhorse, if my memory serves me accurately enough here. I think there was at least one previous Sailor Skyhorse before you for the Sailor Scouts. But I can't be all that sure about that here, for it's been so long since we were familiar enough with each other in our lives, I know."

"There is a lot I'm not understanding here, Serenade."

"The same thing is true for me. There's a lot I don't understand about in my life as well, in fact, Sylvia. Perhaps in time, we'll better understand why we are now as we are. Supposing that we live long enough to do so here, of course."

For most, if not all, of the rest of the ride back to the applicable stable complex, then, they both remained rather silent. If and whenever they could be, of course. Eventually, they were back there, and Moonlight Serenade had leapt the main gates just as he'd done earlier with Sylvia then on his back. Liz, Sonja, and Ashley were each sitting on hay bales when they returned to where Sylvia had been grooming Serenade before his sudden tensing earlier, for that matter.

As she rode up on Serenade's back, Liz asked Sylvia, "Where did you go?"

"Elsewhere in town. He brought me near where Skyhorse and some guy fought another monster in a video/book/music store, in fact, Liz."

"Who won?" asked Sonja.

"Skyhorse and the guy who helped her won. They took care of the monster reasonably well. That monster won't be bothering anyone else again, in fact, Sonja." Sylvia dismounted from Serenade's back, and began walking him to his stall, in very short order.

"I see. Do you have any ideas about the guy who helped Skyhorse fight that monster? I mean, do you have any ideas about who he might actually be in real life?" asked Ashley, as she, Liz, and Sonja began following Sylvia and Serenade to his stall.

"No, I don't, Ash. And I wish I did. He seemed to help her out at least somewhat, if not a lot, in fact," said Sylvia. Moments later, she began attending to Serenade as needed here, with some help from the other girls, if and wherever necessary or desired.

Whether that was in terms of getting water for him, food for him, or helping out with preparing his stall for him to sleep in, they did so, if and wherever needed or desired. And they often talked with each other as they so chose to here, for that matter. It took about thirty minutes or so for them all to finish taking care of Serenade as needed or desired by working together at the present time.

When they were done doing so, they soon went to the same part of the stable complex that Sylvia had gone to on the previous night, and took care of themselves as needed or desired. By the time they were done doing so, it was now just about 8:30 pm local time. Soon after that, Sonja drove off in a mostly silver Ferrari, leaving Ashley and Liz alone with Sylvia.

They stayed on the stable complex for a while longer, before eventually deciding to return to their respective homes in the local area. When they did so, they soon piled into Sylvia's van, and she brought Ashley and Liz back to their respective residences there. Sylvia first dropped Ashley off at her house, then did the same for Liz. After that, Sylvia went driving around the city for a while longer. She eventually stopped at a restaurant near her family's residence, and picked up some pizzas for herself and others from there. As well as a few other things that'd often come with said pizzas, for that matter.

She eventually got home around 10 pm or so local time. Sylvia put some of the pizza and related items in the Wakefields' kitchen, and took the rest of those things to her room to have for herself before she went to bed. After she went to her room for the rest of the night, she soon worked on her homework for about an hour or so as needed. Once she'd done it for a long enough time as necessary, she set her books aside, and prepared her clothes for the following day of school. Which, in this particular case, included one of her school uniforms, of course. After she prepared her required clothes well enough for the following day of school, she changed into some suitable sleepwear, and got into her bed. She read a fantasy-style book and wrote in her journal for a while as she then lay on her back in her bed. Eventually, however, she felt much too tired to do either thing or both things any longer at the current time. So she put her books back where needed here, and turned out her light, in rather short order. Not much longer, then, she was quite soundly asleep again, and lost in dreams again. Lost in dreams of assorted people and places, whether they were actually from the past or not, in fact.

The following day, Rolando arrived at school just before Sylvia did. He eventually found James near the school's main entrance. When he did, James said, "Skyhorse and Pilgrim appeared again last night, it seems."

"Oh, is that so, Mr. Selannis?" asked Rolando of James, in a somewhat curious manner.

"Yes, it seems they opposed another monster at a video/book/music store. It seemed to be of the same kind that appeared at a mall around here earlier, in fact, from what I've heard so far about both monsters."

They conversed for a little while longer about the battle of the previous night, as much as they then could, before they had to go to their first classes of the school day. Rolando went to a mathematics-related class, while James went to a science-related class. They didn't have all their classes with each other on a typical school day, in fact. But they did have at least one or two of them together, just the same.

Among the classmates he had in that class were people like Kiena Jacano, for example. Little did anyone at all yet know that Kiena, among others, would be part of Skyhorse's Scout team in the future, if at all. But that was yet to be found out by the required people, when the proper time arose for her to become part of it.

Miss Kiena Jacano was not only Mr. Sherman's niece, she was also a girl with mostly red shoulder-length hair normally worn in a somewhat simple style. She was about 5'2" and 110 pounds now. Kiena also had a few purple streaks in her hair, which had appeared a few years before, around the time that she turned 12 years old. They had appeared gradually since that time, and more were appearing as time passed for her in her life. However, they'd not come to dominate her head of hair, in any case at all, as time would eventually come to prove. Why she had some purple streaks in her head now wasn't known well enough yet, if it ever would be. But perhaps someday that'd eventually change for her and others in her life.

Kiena also had round moderately-set green eyes. Her eyes were bright green normally. However, if and whenever she was upset, for example, at someone or something, they had often been known to darken to at least some degree, if not to a great degree.

Kiena was the first daughter and child to her parents Isaac and Anna Jacano. Her siblings were her brother Seth and sister Leah, with Seth being about thirteen and Leah being about nine now. She herself was now sixteen years or so, having had her latest birthday in March. She was born on or near the first day of the Northern Hemisphere's season of spring the year she'd been born, in fact. And ever since, she'd spent most, if not all, of her life in Jerusalem and its surrounding area.

In the past, she had never before been a Sailor Scout. But in the not-too-distant future, she eventually would have to become one. For she would find herself having to fight alongside Skyhorse as one against many other monsters or sentient beings from assorted evil groups in the Universe. Including, in fact, from the Negaverse, for that matter.

One of her best subjects in school at DBJHS was Geometry, but it wasn't necessarily her favorite school subject. Her favorite school subject was a music-related class, in fact. She was currently part of the school's band as a cello player. But her favorite musical instrument was the piano. Which was also her best musical instrument, for that matter.

She actually had preferred to play the piano for the band during the current school year, but hadn't been able to win such a spot in the band this time around. Her auditions for seats in the band won her a cellist seat in it, not a pianist seat, much to her dismay. But she still graciously accepted her assigned seat in the band, and vowed to herself to do what she could in order to earn her desired seat for her senior year at DBJHS, if at all possible.

Once she became a Scout, that might prove harder to do for her. Especially if her Scout duties took a lot of time away from her in her life, of course. At least in terms of when she could practice her musical talents, if nothing else at all, in it, anyway.

When Kiena saw Rolando, she asked, "How are you today, Rolando? You seem a bit out of it today, from what I can currently tell here."

"I didn't sleep well again, Kiena. I had some unexpected dreams again last night, in fact."

"I see. And were they pleasant, if I may ask you this here?"

"Not entirely. I don't know why, but they just weren't entirely that way, for some reason."

"Care to tell me about them later, perhaps?"

"No, I don't think so. At least not right now, anyway, Kiena."

They periodically conversed with each other during the class, if and whenever possible, once they were able to do so well enough in it. But not until after their teacher had finished her lecture and given the class another assignment were they able to do so at considerable enough length, by the way.

About halfway through the period, they and a few other people pushed their desks together a bit, and got to talking with each other. Soon enough, the two recent battles that Skyhorse and Pilgrim had participated in came up in their discussions here. Kiena said, "I don't think that this Skyhorse is an extra-terrestrial alien, Joelle and Naomi. I think she's actually a Terran, for some reason. And the Pilgrim doesn't seem to be an alien either. Though I have to admit that his outfit is somewhat weird, as far as I might put it well enough here."

"How so?" asked Rolando.

"Well, I don't think a tuxedo is standard combat wear for a typical superhero, Rolando. I mean, if you look at most superheroes, don't you think it would be rather weird for them to fight bad guys while in tuxedos? Batman, for example, doesn't fight in a tuxedo, does he?"

"No, I suppose not, Kiena. But what if a superhero chooses to fight in one, just the same?"

"Then it would be quite unusual, I think. I mean, there can't be much protection for a superhero in such an outfit, I think. At least not as far as I can tell, anyway. How much protection can there really be in such an outfit for a potential superhero?"

"Who knows, Kiena? I don't really know who this Pilgrim is yet, anyway, if I ever will."

For a while longer, then, until just before the end of the current period, Kiena, Joelle, Naomi and Rolando, at least, conversed at some length with each other periodically. Eventually, though, they all pushed their respective desks back to wherever they then belonged in their current classroom, in fact. After the end of the period, Rolando left the classroom with most, if not all, of his classmates in that class, for all the obvious reasons, of course.

Some time later, then, Rolando encountered Sylvia again in the usual part of the school's main building. They met each other in a hall leading to the main cafeteria, in fact, while Liz was walking with Sylvia to there.

"Hello again, Miss Wakefield. The whole school seems to be quite abuzz with the recent events surrounding the appearances of Skyhorse and Pilgrim, don't you think?"

"Yes, it seems so to me as well, Mr. Volois. I wonder how often they'll appear around the area in the future," replied Sylvia, in very short order.

"So do I, Miss Wakefield. So do I."

"Would you care to join us for lunch this afternoon, by any chance?"

"No, I don't think so, Miss Wakefield. My friends seem to want me to eat with them here again, in actual reality. Thank you for the offer, though."

"No big deal, Mr. Volois. If and whenever you might change your mind, the offer will remain open for at least the time being, if not for the rest of the year. Just so you know that here well enough."

"Perhaps someday, I might just take you up on that offer, Miss Wakefield. But just not yet, in fact."

Eventually, they each got their needed food and drink items for themselves, and moved to different tables elsewhere in the cafeteria. But still within reasonably good sight of each other, just in case they might need to communicate with each other somehow during their current lunch period there.

They didn't have that need or desire to do so at the current time, in fact. But they both still stayed within reasonably good sight of each other, just in case they might need or want to do so. In time, of course, they finished their respective lunches at their own tables. And they went to their next classes elsewhere in the school.

Several hours later, they encountered each other again elsewhere in Jerusalem's local area. Most specifically, they encountered each other at the Jerusalem-area library that Rolando would most often visit whenever he wasn't in school. They met again between two long bookcases that were now full of dozens, if not hundreds or thousands, of books, in fact.

Sylvia was looking for some books primarily related to horses, while he was looking for several science-fiction novels of recent publication, when they encountered each other between those two bookcases. She was mainly looking for non-fiction books, specifically related to the care and handling of horses or similar enough animals, when she saw him again there. When he asked her why she was doing that at the present time, she answered, "Because, Mr. Volois, I'm considering the idea of trying to buy at least one horse sometime in the future, if not more than one. Perhaps even in the near future, if at all possible. There is at least one horse I might want to buy, if I'm given the chance to do that well enough in the future. Perhaps even more than one, if and when the chance might ever happen to arise for me to do that here, in fact."

"Are you talking about the horse you rode earlier, whatever their name may be?"

"Yes, I'm talking about Moonlight Serenade. I'd really like to buy him, in fact. But I don't have the money right now to afford him, much less any other horse, I believe."

"I see." They talked with each other for a while longer, even after picking out some books for themselves from assorted shelves in the library. While they did that with each other, they also went to a free table or some chairs there, and read for a while, as they then saw fit.

Rolando soon learned that Sylvia had three siblings, if he didn't already know that, for instance. Which, in fact, he hadn't. At least not in this lifetime, anyway. He learned the names of her siblings were Ulysses, Rebecca, and Martha. And he learned her parents' names were Nigel and Esther, as well.

As for her, she learned that Rolando had two brothers and two sisters. He told her that his siblings' names were Thomas, Bruce, Astrid, and Celeste. And that his parents' names were Morgan and Emily. She smiled when he told her the names of his siblings and parents, in fact.

He eventually asked her, "Do you intend to live in this area for the rest of your life, if at all possible, Miss Wakefield?"

"God willing, of course?"

"Yes, that's what I mean."

"Sure I do. But if I can't do so, then so be it. I'll go wherever He chooses to send me, and however He chooses to send me, if and whenever possible, in my life. No matter where it might be in it, Mr. Volois."

They talked periodically with each other until sometime around 8 or so, when she said, "I'll have to catch you later, Mr. Volois. I just remembered I now have something to do elsewhere in the area. Perhaps we'll see each other at school soon enough."

"Very well, Miss Wakefield. I'll catch you later, then, if at all possible." Not too long after he said these things here, she left him alone again where they'd been in the library. Sylvia went to wherever she then needed to go. And he stayed in the library for quite some length of additional time. He stayed at the library until just after 10 pm local time. After which he eventually returned home to his own family's residence in the Jerusalem area of Israel, of course.

No more than about twenty minutes after getting back home to his family's residence in the Jerusalem area, then, Rolando was in his room either working on his homework or sleeping. If the former was true, he stayed up only until midnight local time. If the latter was true, he was asleep by 11 pm local time. In any case at all, though, he was most certainly quite asleep again in his bed by no later than 12:15 in the morning. And lost in any number of dreams as he slept in his bed, for that matter.


	6. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Some length of time later, Sylvia was patrolling in the local area, and even working on outfitting the cavern that she and Serenade had earlier found together. It was now about 5:30 pm local time, more or less. And it was now Friday, September 14, 1990, as she patrolled in the local area or worked on outfitting the cavern she and Serenade had earlier found.

As she was walking down a street near the Zion Gate, while secretly patrolling there as Sylvia, an eagle suddenly flew toward her without any warning. A few dozen or so model planes that looked like miniature jet fighters were chasing that eagle, and trying to shoot it down. The eagle flew almost directly toward her, and she soon followed it when it passed her, heading for a hole leading underground as quickly as it possibly could. She eventually had to duck under some fire from those planes. And when she did, she ducked into a nearby long-abandoned house with thick stone walls.

Ten seconds or so later, she was Skyhorse, and out of that house, again. She found a sling and several stones, on the ground just outside that house. And she began slinging stones at those planes just as quickly and as accurately as she then could here. Each stone she launched here hit one of the planes, and knocked them down, until she was out of stones to sling at them. By that time, she had knocked down eight planes with those stones. She then withdrew her sword and shield from her subspace pocket of sorts, so as to have something else to defend herself and the eagle with here. Five minutes later, then, the remaining planes were taken down with several well-placed strokes of her sword or ricochets of their own bullets off her shield or the nearby ground. She, however, was completely unharmed by any of the bullets, due to her excellent defense of herself and the eagle, in fact.

After all the planes were down completely, she collected them as quickly as she could here. She soon stored them away in her subspace pocket, so that she could examine them later, whenever possible. After doing that, she went in search of the eagle those planes had obviously been chasing, of course.

Skyhorse eventually found them hiding in that hole, and put her sword and shield back in her pocket of sorts. That done, she tried to get the eagle to come out of the hold, of course. It took her about twenty minutes or so. But eventually, she did get it to do that here.

After she did, it soon let her pick it up. She checked it for injuries, et cetera. Skyhorse found no major injuries to that eagle, but they had still been hit by at least a few bullets on their wings and back. Nothing that was particularly life-threatening, but that had left some wounds just the same, in fact.

She searched for things that she could use to attend to those wounds, of course. After transforming herself back to Sylvia, she searched the nearby house for some things that might work well enough here. It took her a little while to find some old clothes in reasonably good condition which she could use while she attended to the eagle's injuries, by the way. But she still found them not too long after re-entering the house in search of them. Those clothes seemed to be about a few hundred years old, at least. And they weren't generally in good enough condition for a typical human being to wear in their life. She soon began tearing them into strips as she saw fit, in order to attend to the eagle's injuries as needed.

After a little more time had passed, she had done all that she could do for that eagle at the present time. Then she picked up that eagle, and put them in a sack that she'd found near the clothes in the stone house. That done, she slung the sack over her shoulder as gently as she then could, for the obvious reasons, before resuming her current patrol in the Jerusalem area.

After she had been continuing with her patrol for about another twenty minutes, the eagle suddenly spoke, in a moderately quiet tone of voice. It said, "Thank you for helping me, Sylvia. Those planes were hunting me just a little while ago. I was in the process of searching for someone else in the area when I encountered them. I was flying near The Dome of the Rock a little while ago, searching for someone named Kiena Jacano, in fact. But before I could get very far with doing so, I encountered the planes you saw earlier."

When she heard these words from them, she asked, "Who are you?"

"I am Isaiah."

"Named after the prophet?"

"Yes, my master named me that. He did that before he fell asleep about two years ago. When he left, he gave me orders to search for the person I just told you about. Ever since, I have been entirely out in the wild searching for the person I just mentioned to you."

"How come those planes were hunting you, Isaiah?"

"I don't know. But they resembled planes from assorted Arab nations, such as Iraq, Syria, and Egypt, for example, just the same."

"I don't know anyone by that name. Should I ask around?"

"I don't know if that would be wise, at least not at present. But I have this feeling, somehow, that you will eventually encounter her in your life."

"I see. And do you have a favorite place to stay, seeing as you've been staying out in the wild for so long, Isaiah?"

"I usually hide out near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, whenever possible, Sylvia."

"And when you can't?"

"Then I hide out wherever I can, whenever I can. I sometimes have to raid assorted garbage cans, dumpsters, and assorted buildings, for example, though, in order to get enough to eat for myself. I was in the process of raiding for food periodically while flying in search of Kiena Jacano, when I encountered those planes. You know the rest by now."

She eventually brought them to where she'd parked her van near Christ Church, and put him as securely and as safely as possible into her van where needed. No more than a few minutes after doing that well enough to suit her here, she drove toward the nearest animal hospital. A little while later, then, they arrived there, and she brought Isaiah into that hospital, for the obvious reasons. An animal doctor or two soon took charge of Isaiah, and brought him where needed in that hospital. As they worked on him, they also got the necessary information from her that they needed to better take care of him to the best of their current ability to do so here. By 7:30 pm, then, local time, they had done all they could for Isaiah at the current time. They gave her some instructions on how to take care of him for at least a little while, and some medical supplies as needed, of course. She thanked them for their assistance with him, and soon left for her family's residence elsewhere in the area. On the way home, she soon purchased a cage as directed by those animal doctors, and put Isaiah in that cage as needed, before putting it into her van as well.

Sylvia arrived home by 8:30 pm or so local time, and went immediately to her room. That done, she put his cage in a corner of her room that'd been empty for at least a little while before then, in fact. After dealing with him as needed at the current time, she soon left her room again, so that she could tell the other Wakefields about what'd just happened to him here, of course.

Her parents and siblings were surprised at least a little by the fact that she'd brought an eagle home with her on the current night. She told them what she could about the incident in which she saved him from the planes, and kept secret what she had to about it. They soon asked what his name was, supposing that she now knew it, of course.

She told them his name was Isaiah, and told them whatever she could currently tell them about him. For any other information, she had to deny their requests, for the obvious reasons. Eventually, her parents and siblings went to their respective rooms for most, if not all, of the rest of the night, and so did she. After she returned to her room, then, she resumed work on a quilt she was then in the process of making. She worked on that quilt periodically over the next few hours, until about midnight or so local time.

When she got tired of working on it at the present time, she set it aside back where she'd had it resting before. Sylvia then went to her family's kitchen area, and got herself a little food and drink to have just before bed. She made herself some tuna sandwiches and poured herself some grape juice. Sylvia took about fifteen minutes or so to make herself that food and pour herself some grape juice. After which, she then returned to her room for the rest of the overnight period, of course.

As she then consumed her sandwiches and juice, she also prepared for bed, and read a book for a while. Eventually, after having first changed into some appropriate sleepwear, she had finished consuming her sandwiches and juice. She then put the necessary plate and glass on her desk, for later returning to the Wakefields' kitchen area as needed. That done, she returned to her bed, and was soon afterward quite asleep again. And lost in more dreams of the past, in fact.

The following day, she went out and spent some time with her friends Elizabeth, Leila, Sonja, and Ashley again. They went to the same mall that Rolando and Sylvia had first encountered each other, in fact. They were in search of more music to purchase for themselves while there, among other things that they might want to do while they were there with each other.

They arrived at the mall by 9:30 am local time. Whereupon they soon went to a clothing-related store in search of some clothes they might need later in the year, in fact. They shopped for a while there, and then moved on to assorted other stores as needed. They did this sort of thing until just about noon, more or less, when Sylvia suddenly got this feeling that something was about to happen in the area of the mall. She said, "Elizabeth, Leila, Sonja, and Ashley, I have this rather strange feeling something's about to happen around here."

"How come?" asked Elizabeth and Leila, together.

"I don't really know, Liz and Leila. And I wish I did. Believe me, I wish I did."

"Would you tell us, if you could?" asked Ashley.

"Of course I would, Ash. But right now, I just don't know why I'm feeling this particular feeling here. Can we continue this shopping bit a little later? I'm going to try to figure out why I'm feeling this feeling right now. Meet me later wherever you can, please, girls. In the meantime, be careful around here as best as you can for as long as you can, okay?"

"Where will you be in the meantime?" asked Sonja.

"I don't really know, Sonja. If I did, then I might or might not be able to tell you, of course. But right now, at least, I don't really know. Sonja, I'm putting you in charge here, in my absence. Please watch over Ash and Leila as best as you can until I rejoin you."

"Will do. Take care, then, Sylvia. May you return safely to us later, of course."

A minute or two later, at most, Sylvia split from her three friends, and began to try to find out what was about to happen here. Whatever it might be, in fact. She was soon drawn toward a city bus. And on the way there, she somehow got the sense that Skyhorse might be needed.

So, when she got that sense, she ducked into a currently-empty alley about a block or two away from the mall's nearest entrance/exit point, and became Skyhorse. After doing that, she continued on toward where that city bus was heading. First on foot, and then on horseback, as Serenade suddenly appeared next to her as she was running toward that bus.

As soon as he was close enough to her, she leapt up onto his back, and continued on her way. He said, just as soon as he could do so quite safely enough, "There seems to be a bomb planted on a city bus now, from an impression that God's just given me here, Skyhorse. I wonder if you'll be able to defuse it well enough, if you have to."

"Of course I hope so, Serenade. Is this another Negaverse-related matter?"

"It doesn't seem so. It seems to be another planned terrorist attack, in fact. At least that's from what this impression has apparently told me at the current time."

"When did you get this impression?"

"About twenty minutes ago, more or less. And as soon as I did, I ran away from Reuben and Timothy, while they were still working with me. I left the stable complex, and came in search of you. Fortunately, I found you in a timely enough manner, of course."

"I just got a rather strange feeling myself about ten or so minutes ago." She briefly described this feeling to him as best as she could at the current time, and finished about a minute or two before they arrived at a nearby stop for the bus somewhere in the city. Skyhorse soon sneaked under the bus without anyone knowing, after Serenade said that the bomb was placed somewhere under the bus's main body. She hung as close and as quietly to the undercarriage as she possibly could, for the obvious reasons, and waited for the bus to continue on its way.

After it started moving again, she made her way as quietly and as safely as she could toward the bomb. Which was placed in the approximate center of the bus's undercarriage, in fact. It had a series of wires, and a digital display for a timer that was now counting down minutes and seconds before the planned explosion of the attached explosives. The explosives consisted of several sticks of dynamite bound together, as well as several pounds of other kinds of explosives. Also there were a few canisters considerably filled with assorted small and sharp objects, as she soon found out rather unexpectedly when her locket was sufficiently close to them to detect them well enough. All in all, the bomb was quite dangerous, from all current appearances to her, in fact. At least from what she could then tell about it, anyway.

By the time she finished looking over the bomb in question well enough, only about five or so minutes remained on the bomb's timer. She soon withdrew her sword, once she scanned the bomb with her locket, and laid it on her stomach as she hung from the bus's undercarriage as needed here. The locket projected an x-ray-like scan, then a few other scans, of the bomb in front of her eyes just in front of where the bomb was on the undercarriage. Skyhorse studied those scans for a few seconds or so apiece, before her locket stopped giving her those scans. When it did so, she took her sword off her stomach, and proceeded to start cutting the necessary wires with it as the situation then required her to. Five seconds before the bomb's timer was about to run out, and just before the bus was about to hit part of the mall, she cut the final wire then present. And the bus veered away all of a sudden, not to hit the mall at all, in fact.

It came to rest about ten feet away from the part of the mall that the bus had been aimed at by terrorists who'd hijacked the bus in question here. And after it did so, she scurried out from under that bus, and briefly melted into the nearby crowd, putting her sword away as she did that. She then did that so the Arab terrorists wouldn't see her well enough before she could show herself again well enough here, of course.

The Arab terrorists that'd hijacked the bus soon came out of it, and began searching for the person or persons who'd disarmed their bomb here, for the obvious reasons. They weren't successful enough. At least not at first, anyway, for Skyhorse hadn't shown herself to them yet. Two slipped under the bus to try to figure out why their bomb hadn't gone off, while others went into the crowd, hoping to find out who'd sabotaged their bomb. They went into the crowd with several machine guns of mostly Russian and Arab design. And several knives also were on many of them, either in plain sight or not.

But at least not at first, anyway, did they see Skyhorse. For she'd hidden deep enough into the crowd to avoid immediate detection. All while also trying to figure out how to handle the five or six terrorists, at least, who'd earlier planted the now-harmless bomb on the bus's undercarriage or hijacked the bus.

Eventually, she came up with a plan as Serenade reappeared near the nearest entrance/exit point to the mall. She retrieved her shield, sword, and scabbard from her pocket of sorts, and prepared to engage those terrorists as needed. When they were close enough to her, and when it was safe enough for her to do so, she showed herself.

When she showed herself, she was sitting on a bench near the mall's nearest entrance/exit point. She was, of course, wearing her Scout uniform, when she did that. She had her shield hanging on her left arm, her scabbard hanging from her waist on her left, and her sword in her right hand, when she appeared to the terrorists here. She soon said, "Halt, you terrorists! I am Sailor Skyhorse, servant of the One True God! Protecting the innocent is one of my missions as a Sailor Scout. I shall not allow you to destroy innocent lives, if I can possibly avoid it. Leave now, or face the justified consequences of your actions, evil people that you are! This is your last warning!" As she said those things, all the other people in the area except for the terrorists hurried into the mall as quickly and as safely as they could, for the obvious reasons.

When they began to charge toward her, firing bullets from their machine guns as they did so, she shielded herself with her shield, and closed with them as well. Moments later, with some well-placed strokes from her sword where and when needed, half a dozen or so Arab terrorists were down and out of the fight. Some of their bullets had ricocheted off her shield, and hit them instead, for those she didn't strike down with her sword. Others not hit by their own bullets fell because of strokes from her with her sword. Still others were taken out when Serenade surprised them by trampling them under his hooves without warning, and others were taken out when the Pilgrim showed up with assorted items of his.

Fifteen or so minutes after she showed herself to them, then, not one of the Arab terrorists remained sufficiently active in the fight. For they'd either killed themselves with their own bullets, Serenade had trampled them to death, or Skyhorse had taken them out of the fight by wise use of her sword, scabbard, or shield, as then necessary for her. Pilgrim helped out Serenade and Skyhorse where possible, but had killed nobody who was fighting outside the mall at that time, in actual reality. Only one of the terrorists was still alive when the fight ended, in fact. And only because it was necessary for at least one of the terrorists to survive, in order to piece together the necessary information about the planned terrorist attack that Skyhorse had just prevented, of course. Among other things, for that matter.

Eventually, the fight was over, and Pilgrim and Serenade each left the area. Though not with each other, in fact. The only one of the three to remain in the area of the fight when they left the area was Skyhorse. And she was standing over the person who'd just been in charge of the planned attack on the mall they were outside now. She had them firmly in her grasp, and checked them for any injuries, wounds, and hidden weapons or explosives when she did. Finding no yet-unknown hidden weapons or explosives on that terrorist's person, she soon checked them for assorted injuries and wounds. There were several, mostly due to bullets that'd hit them after ricocheting off her shield, by the way. She attended to those injuries and wounds as best as she could until some law enforcement and medical personnel came to the mall, and dealt with the terrorists still there as needed. Eventually, they took a statement from her as necessary, and let her go not too long after that.

When it was quite safe enough for her to do so, she eventually found a place to hide a few blocks or so away from the nearest part of the mall. And she hid there briefly, as best as she could then do so there. For a little while longer, she stayed as Skyhorse, just in case her abilities as Skyhorse were still going to be needed. After waiting for about another ten or so minutes, once she got there well enough and safely enough, she powered down again, and was just Sylvia Wakefield again, in very short order, in fact.

When she did so, she finally realized that her earlier feeling suggesting that something might have been about to happen was her Scout state giving her advance warning that she might have to fight again in a very short time. And as soon as she realized that, she also realized that she'd not actually be able to tell her friends the whole truth about what'd just happened. At least not until they ever became Scouts, of course, if ever.

She eventually rejoined her friends where she'd left them, just as soon as she could do so well enough, in fact. When she returned to them, Liz said, "Skyhorse and the Pilgrim appeared not too long ago, it seems, Sylvia. This time they and a horse appeared to fight against assorted Arab terrorists who'd hijacked a bus, and placed a bomb on it, hoping to crash it into this mall, from what appears to be the case now."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, that's right, Sylvia. If I'm not too mistaken here, that now makes three times that pair of fighters has appeared to fight in the local area. But they disappeared from view again not too long after the fight, just as soon as they could get away from where it was well enough, from what others have said here in this mall."

For a while, then, until about 3 pm or so local time, the quartet of friends stayed with each other, often shopping with each other as they did so. On the way to an art supplies store, they encountered Rolando as he was heading toward a store that often sold games and toys in it. When they encountered him, Sylvia eventually asked, "We meet again, it seems, Mr. Volois. What's on your mind right now, if I may ask you this here?"

"I'm in the process of going to a store that sells models of sailing ships, for example, Miss Wakefield. Why do you ask?"

"I haven't seen you around this mall often, if I'm not too mistaken, since our first meeting. That's why I'm asking, that's all."

"Very well. I'm looking for models of assorted ships that I and others close to me can try to put together as needed, whenever possible. Would you five ladies care to join me here, then?"

After a few moments of silent conversation about ten feet away from him among the five girls, Sylvia finally led her group of friends back to his side. And she soon said, "As you wish, Mr. Volois. We'll accompany you for as long as you'd like us to do that here, in fact."

So the six of them soon formed up with each other as they saw fit. Sylvia formed up next to him, while the other four girls formed up behind them both as they then wanted to here. Rolando soon led them to the store he'd just been heading toward, and began searching for assorted ship models, of course. The five girls also looked around the store while he did so, not really expecting anything at all to strike their fancies well enough for them to consider buying anything from that store, for that matter.

They all stayed in the store for about half an hour or so, until just about 4 or so local time, more or less. After which, Rolando went with them to the store they'd all been heading to when he'd encountered them. In that store, Sylvia and Ashley purchased assorted art supplies, either for themselves or for other people close enough to them in their respective lives. While they did so, Liz and the other three girls began to get at least a little bit acquainted with Rolando, if they'd not already begun to do so, in their lives. They were still doing so when Ashley and Sylvia rejoined them in a bench near the front of that store in the mall, in fact.

A while later, then, the six of them found themselves in an Italian-style restaurant for some later-than-normal lunch. They all ordered some pasta and assorted other items for that lunch, including a pitcher or two of grape or apple juice, for that matter. As they had their respective lunches with each other, they conversed quite a bit, if and whenever possible.

They took about half an hour to have their lunches with each other, before leaving the restaurant behind again. Rolando covered their check, and Sylvia the tip, in fact. After which, the six of them eventually left the mall behind. Sylvia and her friends soon piled into her van, while Rolando got behind the wheel of his own car. They all eventually left the mall behind for wherever their desires might then take them on the current day.

Two hours or so later, then, Sylvia and Liz met up with each other again at a local athletic club near Wakefield Castle. They met up with each other again when they saw each other near an indoor pool there. Sonja, Leila, and Ashley weren't there when they showed up there near each other, however.

For a while, they conversed with each other on bleachers near the pool, watching others swimming in it as they did so. Including, in fact, Kiena Jacano, though they didn't yet realize it. In time, Sylvia and Kiena would come to see a lot of each other, if and whenever possible. Though not necessarily in the Athletic Club they were now in here, in actual reality.

Once Sylvia felt she and Liz had talked with each other long enough at the current time without entering the pool, Sylvia rose from her place on those bleachers, and went to the edge of the pool. She came near a ladder leading down into the pool in an area of shallow water, as Kiena was about to exit the pool so that she could return to the diving board she'd dived off moments before. As Kiena rose out of the water while using that ladder, her eyes locked briefly with Sylvia's, before either girl realized that here. Their eyes remained locked on each other for a few seconds, at most, before Kiena looked away, and Sylvia stepped to one side, so that Kiena could finish exiting the pool here.

After Kiena was quite sufficiently clear of the ladder, Sylvia then entered the pool by descending it as needed. She soon had begun swimming in the pool as she saw fit, even after entering the part of the pool that was marked as deep water, in fact. She swam only where divers weren't very likely to dive into the water, of course, while there. She mainly swam on her back while doing so, though not always, while there. She also did some butterfly-style swimming strokes as she saw fit to do them while there, for that matter.

Eventually, Kiena decided to stop diving periodically into the water. By that time, Liz had also entered the deep water of the pool and come to where Sylvia was in it. As the two friends usually floated on their backs on the water's surface, they sometimes conversed with each other whenever possible. Which wasn't very often, of course, for the obvious reasons.

After Kiena decided to stop diving into the pool for at least a little while, she eventually made her way to where Liz and Sylvia were swimming near each other. Kiena soon asked Sylvia, "Have we possibly met before, by any chance?"

"No, I don't think so. Why do you ask, miss?"

"You seem at least a little familiar to me for some yet-unknown reason, that's all."

"I don't think we've ever met before." Sylvia said this to Kiena, in fact.

"Well, whether or not we've ever met before, I'd like to introduce myself to you, if I might, Miss Sylvia Wakefield."

"How do you know my name, miss?"

"I know it from attending assorted shows where your quilts, for instance, have been on display, Miss Wakefield. My name is Kiena Jacano, in fact," answered Kiena, with just a little bit of a smile.

"So you're one of the people who likes my work?"

"Yes. One of my uncles is Mr. Jonah Sherman, and he has been in the horse business for quite some time, in fact."

"I know him. He is lodging several horses at a nearby stable complex, including one horse I've particularly taken a liking to of late."

"And this horse is?" asked Kiena, as she also began to float on her own back near Liz and Sylvia in the pool.

"Moonlight Serenade. Right, Liz?"

"That's right, Sylvia. She really likes Moonlight Serenade for some yet-unknown reason, as far as I can currently tell, Miss Jacano." The three girls then often conversed for some length of time with each other. Thereby beginning the process of getting to know each other at least a little bit, if they didn't already know each other well enough yet, of course.

When it was almost 8 pm, Liz said, "I'm going to have to leave here now, Sylvia. I want to be home early enough to catch something I'd like to catch on TV tonight, if I can. So I'll have to go now."

"Do you want me to take you home now?"

"Only if you don't mind too much about doing so."

"Meet me in the locker room in about fifteen minutes or so, and I'll see if I can get you back to your place by 9, at the very latest."

"Understood. It was nice meeting you, Miss Jacano."

"You'll see me again, I'm sure, somewhere, Miss McCall." Moments later, Liz was out of the pool and heading for the appropriate locker room, for the obvious reasons.

For a little while longer, Sylvia and Kiena conversed with each other, before both deciding to leave the pool for the rest of the night as well. They soon entered the applicable locker room, and showered to get all the chlorine and other stuff that was on them taken off, of course. And they soon changed into other clothes there, when the need arose for them to do so. By the time that they were done doing so, Liz had been waiting for Sylvia for about five minutes or so, in fact.

A while later, then, Sylvia and Liz parted from Kiena here. They wouldn't see her again the rest of the night, in fact. Kiena remained in the locker room for a while after they left, and thought a little bit about what they'd discussed with each other while in the pool or in the locker room together.

She eventually left the locker room behind. And then the Athletic Club, not too long after leaving the locker room there, for that matter. She went home in her family's station wagon, and arrived at her family's residence about ten or so minutes after leaving the Athletic Club behind for the rest of the night. By 9:15 pm, she was there. And five minutes after that, she was in the bedroom that she shared with her sister Leah.

Seth was diagonally across the hall in his own bedroom, which was closer to the master bedroom, when Kiena entered her and Leah's bedroom. Their parents' master bedroom was at one end of the main hall on the ground floor of the house. On either side of that main hall in the living quarters' half of the house, there were two other bedrooms and two bathrooms. One bathroom and one bedroom were on either side of the main hall leading to the master bedroom. The bathroom closer to the master bedroom was the master bathroom, and it wasn't attached to either of the other two bedrooms besides the master bedroom. The second bathroom was the one directly opposite Kiena and Leah's bedroom, while the master bathroom was directly opposite Seth's bedroom.

Kiena soon dropped her things on her bed in her part of the room behind a curtain that split most of the bedroom in half. Not all of the room, of course. This was for the simple reason that part of the room had to be left uncurtained so that people could get in and out of the bedroom's main door, if and whenever needed or desired. Leah heard her do so, and then rolled over on her stomach, asking Kiena to open the curtain between their beds for a while as she did so. Leah was then empty-handed, by the way. Kiena soon acceded to her younger sister's wishes, and opened that curtain for a while. But not before changing into some appropriate sleepwear for herself at the present time.

After Kiena had donned a mostly red and purple nightgown with matching slippers, she soon opened the curtain, as requested. Kiena soon lay on her stomach, facing her sister, as she asked, "What's on your mind, Leah?" In her hands, she now held a few sheets of music she was currently working on for a symphony she'd not finished composing.

"Are you going to try to attend my dance recital in a few days, Kiena?"

"If I can. Uncle Jonah has asked me to help out with his stable complex more, if and whenever possible, in the future. I don't know why, but he asked me that today, just the same."

"I see. And does he hope to be able to come to see it as well?"

"Of course he does. But since he had to fire one of his grooms recently, he has been forced to look for someone else to fill that groom's position. He had to fire them after they were caught mistreating a horse there by a frequent rider of horses there, it seems. And he's afraid that fired groom and others may seek their revenge against him, that horse, and anyone else associated in any way with his stable complex, Leah."

"Not a very good situation there at the moment, it seems?" Leah picked up a Hebrew version of an American comic book, and began reading it a bit. Even while talking to her sister, she did so. It, in fact, was an X-Men comic book. Leah was a rather big X-Men fan, and her favorite X-Men character was Rogue.

"No, I'm afraid not. I wish I knew why he apparently thinks I might be able to help him out more with his stable complex here, of course." She studied her sheets of music for a little while, and soon found herself a pencil to work with so that she might be able to add more notes to the symphony if desired or needed. She found a pencil to work with, and not a pen, so that she'd not be locked into certain notes for the symphony until she chose to leave them as they stood then.

She periodically added notes to one or more of those sheets, even while talking to Leah in their bedroom. And she tested those notes periodically by trying them out on a piano, tuba, or French horn she had where needed in her part of their room. Even Leah helped her test those notes out by playing a harp in her own part of the room. Leah was of roughly moderate skill, in terms of her playing a harp, while Kiena had considerably more musical skill than Leah did, at least at the present time, anyway.

The two sisters periodically talked about their days as they tested various notes that Kiena was considering for her symphony's four main instruments. All of which had just been mentioned here, in fact. Other instruments that'd also be played for that symphony included a flute, a guitar, a trumpet, a clarinet, a few drums, a pair of cymbals, and assorted others as needed.

The sisters periodically tested those notes until just after 11 pm, when Leah said, "I'm getting somewhat tired now, Kiena. We'll have to pick this up later, if that's all right with you."

"No problem, Leah. Besides, I'm starting to do the same thing here, in fact."

"Good night, then, Kiena. Sleep tight and all that, if at all possible, of course."

"Will do, Leah. The same to you, quite obviously enough."

Without another word, then, Leah turned off the lights on her side of the curtain, got under her covers, and went to sleep in very short order. Two or three minutes, at most, after Leah did those things, Kiena then did the same on her side of the curtain, after first drawing the curtain shut again, for the obvious reasons. Both girls were quite soundly asleep in their respective beds by 11:15 pm local time, in fact.


	7. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Sunday morning, the _Jerusalem Post_'s English-language version had a report on the foiled Arab terrorist attack of the day before on its front page near the lower right-hand corner. About a hundred words were on the front page in two columns before the article cut off to jump to page 5 of the paper's front section. It jumped to page 5, where the rest of the article continued for about another 1,900 or so words, more or less, in several columns positioned to the left of and below a few pictures of mostly moderate size. Those pictures and the rest of the text for the related article took up about 75 percent or so of page 5. Among the pictures on that page, related to the article in question, were pictures of the bus that Skyhorse had kept from being destroyed. However, no good enough pictures showed up in the paper showing Skyhorse, Pilgrim, or Serenade in action, much to the dismay of the paper's reporters and photographers.

Previous attempts by various other people to photograph them in action had to date proved completely futile, for that matter. And hopefully for their sakes, that'd always remain the case whenever they were having to fight evildoers in their lives, of course. Or at least for a long time in them, if not forever, in fact.

While Nigel Wakefield was still reading the Sunday paper before church, he soon asked, "Do any of you have any ideas about who these people might be who are fighting monsters or terrorists, by any chance?" He asked this as he and his family were having their breakfasts in the Wakefields' kitchen area as they then saw fit to here, by the way.

They were now all running about fifteen minutes later than normal, so that was why they were each having their breakfasts in the Wakefields' kitchen area. It was now just after 7:10 in the morning for Sunday, September 16, 1990, and they all usually left for church by 7 in the morning on a typical Sunday for them all.

They had all woken up about ten to twenty minutes after they usually each rose from their beds, so that was why they were now late. At least in terms of their usual departure time for church on Sunday mornings, anyway.

Esther said, "No, I don't, Nigel. I wonder who they are, in fact. I don't know who they are, in actual reality. And I hope they won't cause trouble around the area due to their presence, of course, for our country sure doesn't need any more than it normally has."

Sylvia's siblings wondered basically the same things here, for that matter. Not Sylvia, of course. For she knew much more about things related to Skyhorse and Pilgrim, for instance, than they did. And she hoped that'd always remain the case, for all the obvious reasons. When her parents asked her what she currently thought about Pilgrim and Skyhorse, she said she hoped they could stop the people and monsters who were now trying to wreak as much havoc as possible in the local area. They accepted that, quite naturally enough. Though they didn't actually know she was part of that very situation, just the same.

Some time later, then, all the Wakefields left their residence in the family's van. Not the one that Sylvia would normally drive all over the area, in actual reality, but another one entirely. They went to their usual church on David Street, and stayed there until just after 11 am, more or less. After church, they soon returned home, and split up as they saw fit after doing that.

Sylvia took her van to the underground cavern that she and Serenade had earlier found, once she'd loaded it up with certain things from her bedroom that she could currently spare from it. After doing that, she eventually set off for the aforementioned underground cavern. She dropped those things off in the cavern as she saw fit to drop them off in it, and then left the cavern again. She went shopping again, and this time for assorted items that could possibly double as secret communicators of a sort. Several hours later, then, she'd bought several watches, among other things, and brought them to the cavern as well, if she didn't put them in her pocket of sorts, of course. After doing that, she then did whatever else came to her mind on the current day.

Such as returning home and taking a short nap before resuming work on her latest quilt, for instance. She napped from about 3 to about 5 or so, before rising from her bed, and resuming work on her latest quilt. Sylvia primarily worked on that quilt from about 5:30 to about 7:30. Then she set aside her quilting-related work, and started working on her almost-due homework, if she'd not finished it yet. From about 7:40 to about 9:40, then, she worked on that homework, stopping after receiving a call from Liz. After working on it for about two hours, she told her parents she was going over to Liz's place to see what Liz wanted. They let her go.

She soon drove off in her own van, after suddenly getting the urge to bring another set of clothes with her at that time, and went to Liz's place. When she got there, Liz said, "I'm currently having some trouble with this Chemistry homework of mine. I can't seem to figure out this Chemistry-related stuff right now. I was wondering if you could possibly help me out with it."

So for about the next half hour or so after 10 pm or so, Sylvia helped Liz out as much as possible, within logical enough reason. She didn't do Liz's work for her, of course, but she still did help her with her Chemistry homework, just the same. After Liz thought that she could do the rest of it without more help from Sylvia at the current time, she eventually let Sylvia leave her house again. But not before giving her some treats for herself and for her family that Liz and her mother had made within the last day or so. Sylvia left Liz's place again by 11 pm local time.

Sylvia left Liz's place again, and then set off for Serenade's stable complex. For she'd decided to check in on Serenade before returning to Wakefield Castle, while still at Liz's place. So she went to Serenade's stable complex to visit a little while with him, arriving there by 11:30 pm local time.

As a matter of fact, the Shermans' stable complex was called "Sweet Musicalisti." And it had been in existence for about 40 years, more or less, after it had been created by Jonah and Danielle Sherman around the time of Israel's refounding.

Jonah and Danielle Sherman were both in their early to middle seventies, but both looked at least ten to fifteen years younger than that, in fact. And they'd both been born in Australia to missionary parents who often ministered to the Aborigines there. Jonah's parents had come from the United Kingdom, while Danielle's had come from Israel. In the course of time, they moved together to Israel, after first attending school in the United States for several years, to get all the necessary education related to horses they'd need in order to run an excellent stable in the future. After they finished their schooling in the United States, they settled in the Jerusalem area of Israel, and had been where they were now ever since.

They'd married just about two years after their first meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Jonah and Danielle married each other in St. Louis, Missouri, one July day in 1945, during a summer-long break from their schooling. They finished their undergraduate schooling back in Philadelphia, then went after the necessary graduate degrees in Kentucky until they both earned them all on an accelerated scholastic schedule for both of them. After doing that, they moved to Israel, and set up their stable complex over time. They started small, of course, and gradually improved their stable complex as their current situations permitted them to do so at any time. Now, their stable complex was quite extensive, covering several hundred or so acres, if not more, in Jerusalem's local area. Not all in the same place, but still quite extensive, just the same.

For the past several years, they had even been entering horses in various races all over the world, whenever possible. Most of them older than three years old, in fact. But they had periodically entered younger horses than that in said races. Not very often, but they'd still done it, just the same.

When she got to Sweet Musicalisti, in order to visit with Serenade, Mr. Sherman was sitting near his stall, making notes in a spiral-bound notebook he had with him right now. He was making notes about possible breeding combinations for the horses he and his family could possibly breed for themselves, when she walked up to him here. She asked him, "What are you doing, Mr. Sherman?"

As soon as he recognized she was speaking to him, he looked at her, and said, "I'm considering several breeding possibilities for the horses we can possibly breed for ourselves, Miss Wakefield. It's a surprise to see you around here so late, in fact."

"Well, I felt I needed to spend some time with Serenade at the current time, Mr. Sherman."

"Say no more. If you wish to ride him, go right ahead. Just make sure that when you bring him back, you do all the necessary things, of course."

"Obviously, Mr. Sherman."

"Take all the time you need, then."

"Oh, before I forget, have you been able to get any more horses that I might possibly be interested in since we last talked about such things?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, we have. We were able to purchase Princess Caralina, for instance. She is a rather good-looking horse as well."

"Please tell me about her, if you can."

"Her mother is the daughter of Glorious Conquest and Crystal Dream, with the mare of the pair being Crystal Dream. Her mother's name is Promised Dream, and her father's name is Royal Favor. Crystal Dream and Glorious Conquest were well-known horses once owned by a British General Simon Termilicus, a friend of an American writer named Isaac Barnard. Isaac Barnard had given General Termilicus several horses in payment of a debt for services rendered. Among those horses were Glorious Conquest and Crystal Dream, to name just two of those horses."

"I see. What else do you know about her?" Sylvia finished preparing Moonlight Serenade for another ride as she asked Mr. Sherman that.

"She has the characteristics of an excellent racer, through her father Royal Favor and his side of her pedigree. Most of the horses on his side of her pedigree were racers, in fact. Most of those racers were of considerable note, at the very least. If not even more note than that, by the way, Sylvia." He helped her, if needed, onto Serenade's back, and went with her to the complex's main gates, of course. When the need arose for him to do so, then, he opened those gates, and let them ride away, in very short order. After they left, he returned to what he'd been doing when she showed up near him on the complex's grounds.

By 11:45 pm, they were both just about a mile or two away, at the very least, from Sweet Musicalisti's grounds. And they were going wherever the desire or need for them to go struck them both at the present time. Sylvia rode him for a while, often talking with him whenever and wherever possible, before she brought them both into a currently-dark alley. Moments later, with a very brief, and very muted, flash of light, if any at all, she was again Skyhorse.

They patrolled the Jerusalem local area for at least an hour after she transformed into her Scout state around local midnight. If not even longer than that. Seeing nothing happening that shouldn't happen wherever they were both patrolling at the current time, they eventually decided to return to Sweet Musicalisti, in rather short order.

On the way back there, she suddenly asked him, "Do you know of an eagle called Isaiah or a girl named Kiena Jacano right now, as far as you can recall, Serenade?"

"Both names seem somewhat unfamiliar to me, at least in terms of them being attached to an eagle or a girl with those names, Skyhorse. There was, however, a Japanese Prince by that name, if I remember correctly enough, during the days of the Silver Millennium."

"The Silver Millennium?"

"Long ago, there was an interplanetary society based on the Moon, by the name of the Moon Kingdom. And the other known planets of this solar system were part of that society as well. All except the Earth, that is. Before it was destroyed or conquered by the Negaverse, there was a time for that Moon Kingdom called the Silver Millennium. There were many people who were friendly to the Moon Kingdom and its inhabitants, and you were one of them. Others who were friendly to them included some Princes from assorted places on Earth. Including one that the Moon Kingdom's expected future ruler really liked in her life, in fact. This Prince she liked wasn't Prince Isaiah, by the way. But Prince Isaiah was related, I believe, to that certain Prince the Moon Princess really liked. To make a long story short, the Kingdom in question was destroyed or conquered by the Negaverse and its assorted beings. At least until the Moon Kingdom's Queen acted, that is. She trapped a lot of sentients and other things inside countless globes and things, and sent them to the future. Including you and me, just so you know. Time passed, and we emerged from whatever containers and things we'd been placed in when she saved us, Skyhorse."

"How many other sentients are there around from that time, thanks to this Queen you mentioned to me just now?"

"I really don't know yet, if I ever will. I just know that you and I are awakened at least partly from our long time of dormancy now. If not completely from it. There are many things I don't yet remember from that time period, for instance."

"And do you think the same thing is true for me, and for anyone else who this Queen might have saved a long time ago?"

"Yes, I do, Skyhorse. But I don't know how this eagle and this girl you just mentioned tie into things here yet, if I ever will."

They talked at considerable length with each other for most, if not all, of the rest of their ride back to Sweet Musicalisti. Eventually, just before they got back there, she powered down to her civilian state as Sylvia Wakefield. They arrived back there just a few minutes before 1:15 in the morning of Monday, September 17, 1990, in fact.

It took her about half an hour or so, at most, to take care of Serenade and herself in the required manners. After doing so, she eventually parted from Serenade again. And she returned to Wakefield Castle by 2 in the morning. Five minutes or so later, she was in her room again. And by 2:15 or so, she was quite soundly asleep in her bed again, dreaming there, whenever possible, in fact.

She didn't yet know this, but she would have many opportunities to see Kiena and Isaiah in her life, in the future. God willing, of course. For Kiena was eventually going to be a Scout, and Isaiah would be a guardian animal for her, in actual reality.

As for Moonlight Serenade, he and Princess Caralina would serve as guardian animals for Skyhorse, though she didn't yet know that either, in her own life. Other Scouts would have their own guardian animals to help them, if and whenever possible in the future. Some might not, if their situations didn't permit them to have them at all. But at least for a few, there would be certain animals who'd serve as guardian animals for them in their lives. Whether or not those lives were their civilian lives or their Scout lives, that'd be the case for them, just the same.

A few days later, on Thursday afternoon, Jeddite was just about ready to unleash another monster in the local area here. He was just finishing his work on his third monster created in his Jerusalem-area base of operations, while still wearing his Negaverse uniform in his work area of sorts there.

As he was putting the final touches on that monster, he was suddenly visited by another high-ranking Negaverse soldier. A soldier who came from the Negaverse to where he now was through a portal of some kind, in fact. This soldier was called Valthusa, and she asked him, "How soon do you intend to release another monster into this area here, Jeddite? Queen Beryl wants to know. What should I tell her?"

"Tell her that my third monster is about to be unleashed. Hopefully the Sailor Scout who's destroyed my first two monsters will be unable to defeat this one, with or without help from anyone or anything else, of course."

"What is this infernal Scout's name?"

"Sailor Skyhorse, it seems. At least, that's what the local news media people seem to think she was calling herself at the present time. Someone else was aiding her earlier, it seems, during both of the battles in which my monsters were destroyed. Some guy in a tuxedo, if I remember correctly enough here. Also a horse has shown up during two of the battles that she's fought recently as Skyhorse, from what recent news reports have seemed to say around here."

"You've only released two monsters, Jeddite."

"True, Valthusa. Sailor Skyhorse somehow disarmed a terrorist bomb earlier, and took out several Arab terrorists with the help of the strange man and horse that I told you about, it seems."

"So how many battles has she apparently fought, that you know of so far?"

"Three, I believe. Though I can't quite be sure of that at the moment, in fact."

For a little while longer, then, the two of them conversed as needed or desired with each other. Eventually, though, Valthusa had to leave him alone again, so that he could go release a monster in the local area again. She opened a portal back to the Negaverse, and was gone just as fast as she'd earlier come to Jeddite's Jerusalem-area base of operations.

After he was completely satisfied with his work on his next monster, he took care of it as needed, including by putting it in a cube if it wasn't already there. That done, he soon stored it away under his usual Arabic-style outfit, before leaving his workshop again, of course. After which, he soon left his hideout again, so that he could search for a suitable enough place to release the monster at in the area.

Jeddite soon hailed a taxicab, and had the cabdriver take him to a college in the local area. He secretly left a cloaked cube on the college's soccer field on a bench there. He did so without anyone else seeing him there. And Jeddite eventually slipped off the field to make his escape from the immediate area of it. As soon as he detected enough people on the field from about a half-mile away from it, he released the monster as he'd earlier released his first two monsters. And he waited for the inevitable presence of Sailor Skyhorse, at least, if nobody or nothing else as well, quite obviously enough. It was about 4:15 pm local time when he released the monster and began waiting for Skyhorse, at least, to show up later, as he expected would be the case soon enough.

As he waited, the still-invisible monster soon sneaked up on a coach talking to a bunch of players on that field, and secretly took him over. The players didn't know this, and they likely never would. Or at least they'd not know this until the monster finally showed itself later on, if at all, for the obvious reasons, of course.

As he waited, he also had the monster secretly start to drain energy from the players and other nearby people very gradually. And do that so that they all wouldn't pick up on what was going on too soon, hopefully enough. So the monster began doing so while still hiding within their host body, per his just-given instructions from Jeddite. And they didn't do it too fast at all, if they could possibly avoid it as they did so, in fact.

While Jeddite was heading toward the soccer field of the college he was going to, Sylvia was visiting briefly with Serenade, and several other people were near them at the same time. Suddenly, he tensed. And Sylvia got another feeling that something else was about to happen that'd require her to go fight again, as well. She quickly saddled him, and said, "Serenade wants to go out again. Reuben, I need you to let us out of the main gates as quickly as possible."

"Understood, Miss Wakefield." Reuben helped her mount Serenade, if needed, and then they set off for the main gates again, of course. Not too much later, Serenade and Sylvia were off Sweet Musicalisti's grounds. And they were heading for wherever else in the area their feelings were going to draw them to, just as quickly and as safely as possible for them both. On the way there, they hurried to her house briefly, and went in back of it, making sure not to be seen while doing either of those things by any of Sylvia's siblings or her parents. When it was safe enough for her to do so, she then leapt up onto her balcony from his back. Sylvia made it quite safely up to her balcony when she leapt up there, and soon accessed her room from the outside. She used a piece of plastic she'd found earlier that day to gain access to her room, for she'd locked it from the inside, quite obviously enough. Slipping into her room, she checked on Isaiah, who was actually starting to get rather restless here, for some yet-unknown reason. When she opened the cage he was then in, he flew out of it, and hovered briefly near her balcony's doors. Isaiah did this as she made sure that she had everything with her that she'd need to have in order to fight again as Skyhorse, in fact. As soon as she did so well enough to suit her, she moved back toward her balcony's doors. And she made it so that they'd be secure again, once she'd left her room again for a long enough time for her balcony through the necessary doors, quite obviously enough.

As soon as she opened the doors to her balcony well enough, Isaiah flashed out through them. And he then winged his way toward another part of the area, not yet knowing where he was being drawn to here, of course. Sylvia tried to stop him, but was completely unsuccessful, in fact. When she realized he was too far away for her to catch up to at the current time, she soon jumped off her balcony, and landed as needed on Serenade's back again. She did that so that they could then hopefully be on their way again in a very short time.

"Where do you think he's going, Serenade?" asked Sylvia, once it was safe enough for them to talk to each other again here.

"Perhaps to find his target, I'd think. Perhaps he has to find the girl we talked about earlier with you, Sylvia."

"I wonder why, if that's actually the case here."

"Perhaps they might have a similar mission to ours, Sylvia." A few minutes later, she brought them to a deserted alley behind an abandoned warehouse. This warehouse wasn't more than about three blocks away from the nearest part of the college's campus, in fact. When she thought it was now safe enough for her to become Skyhorse, she powered up as quickly as she could do that here. A minute after beginning her transformation, then, she was completely Skyhorse again in her life. As soon as she realized that was now true enough for her, she climbed back up on his back, and they continued on their way to somewhere near the location of the problem, or soon-to-be problem.

Two minutes after leaving the area of the warehouse, then, they hid briefly behind the soccer field's bleachers on one side of the field. That done, Serenade slipped away, just as soon as Skyhorse told him to do that well enough. When he was gone, Skyhorse climbed up the back of the bleachers hopefully out of complete sight of the still-invisible monster. She made her way to the top row of those bleachers in a part of them very carefully, for the obvious reasons, of course, as she did so.

Eventually she reached the top of them, and slipped through a window of sorts into a nearby press box without being seen by anyone well enough at the current time. At least not by anyone who she might then have to fight, anyway. She waited for the proper time to show herself, while she calculated the likely odds of her succeeding in the current fight, as well. There were now about four dozen players and several coaches then on the field, as necessary at the current time. Skyhorse didn't like those potential odds much, by the way.

Eventually, when she could wait no longer, she showed herself, by exiting the press box through its main doorway, and began walking down the stairs in front of it. When she was close enough to do so, she then said, "I am Sailor Skyhorse, servant of the One True God. You have come to a place where people can often compete against each other for fun or sport, or watch those who do! And for this, you shall not be forgiven! I stand as Sailor Skyhorse against all who seek to do evil in His Universe. Leave now, or suffer the justified consequences of your actions, evil being that you are! This is your last warning!"

The monster soon revealed itself to be male, bearded, and with many soccer balls at his disposal. He revealed himself as a four-armed soccer coach apparently wearing a German soccer uniform with the number 6 on it. His name was on the back, and his name was Pyruchio, apparently. In both his left hands, he had soccer goal-like nets. In both his right hands, he held soccer balls of regulation-size, more or less. As she neared the crowd gathered on the field below, he suddenly began shooting soccer balls at her with many kicks. He did this while also hoping to knock her out of the fight before she could put up enough of a defense against him in it.

She used her sword and shield to try to protect herself from those balls where possible. But she took several hits, just the same. Even while still making her way down the bleachers to field level, she did so.

Eventually, she'd made her way down to field level. But not without getting hit by at least a few dozen soccer balls, more or less, was she able to do so well enough. Those soccer balls often hurt when they hit her in various places all over her body. She was able to defend herself against several others by slashing at them with her sword or blocking them with her shield, though. While she was trying to get to where the monster was, she also had to defend herself against many of the other people there, after the monster made them go after her as well. She defended herself as best as possible against them, and somehow managed to do so well enough. But that still hadn't allowed her to get close enough to the monster to meet them in close-quarters combat. The monster shot several more balls at her in a very short time, and knocked her to the ground. She shielded herself as best as she could when that happened, but still took a few hits, just the same.

At least until Pilgrim and an unknown girl showed up, anyway. Pilgrim was on the other side of the field from where Skyhorse had shown herself. And the yet-unknown girl was standing on the crossbar for one of the goals there. Pilgrim interrupted Pyruchio's attacks on Skyhorse in the same way that he'd interrupted other attacks, saying as he did so, "The Pilgrim seeks the true lights of the world! And many, if not all, of the people who play or watch games of soccer on this very soccer field may very be among them. The Pilgrim will not allow any such light or lights to be snuffed out if he can possibly avoid it at all while he still lives. Cease and desist, you evil demon who now seeks to wreak havoc on this soccer field! And return from whence you came, or you shall most certainly die!"

As for the as-yet-unidentified girl, she was wearing a red and white sweatshirt, a purple pair of slacks, and purple ankle boots. A gold necklace hung just over the collar of her sweatshirt, and it had a removable medium-sized locket hanging from it currently. A moderately-sized quiver with two crossing straps in an X-pattern hung from her back, full of several dozen arrows. In her left hand, she held a compound bow, and in her right, an arrow with three feathers on the end that would be nocked on appropriate strings for the bow, as needed. Two of the feathers were purple, while the third was red, to show where the top of the arrow should be when shooting it. All her other arrows were so marked, in like manner, for all the obvious reasons here.

When the people began to attack Pilgrim, the unknown girl shouted, "Halt, you monster! Release these people from your control, or else! The spirit is strong in this one, and it speaks of a rebirth of the soul granted by the One who made the Universe! With a true and humble heart, this one's spirit is strong, and it deserves to remain so, if and whenever possible, for many more years into the future!"

"What do you know of rebirth, and why should I release these people from my control? Why should I leave this one's spirit alone, young babe that you are?"

"Because you have no right to it, evil monster that you are! By God's holy light, you have no right to it, nor to wreak havoc in this land or on this world! Go back from whence you came, or prepare to die at our hands, in righteous justice directed by the One who made the Universe!"

"Then try to make me, you foolish baby of a girl!" shouted Pyruchio.

"Very well. But you will come to regret calling me such things, if you live long enough to do so!"

Just then, an eagle, specifically Isaiah, flew out of a nearby tree, to her shoulder, and secretly whispered in her right ear a very few brief words. She heard those certain words, quite secretly. And she then nodded at him, just as secretly. Isaiah then flew back to where he'd just been hiding, as she nocked her bow as needed. She then held the arrow in place with two of the fingers on her left hand, pointing the arrow straight up above her head as she did that here. With her right hand, she touched her round locket, and said, in a rather loud voice, "Renaissance Crystal Power!"

A pillar mostly, if not entirely, of red, white, yellow, and purple light shrouded her almost immediately. When her head became visible again from behind that pillar, as the pillar began disappearing as needed, she had hair in a similar style to her normally-preferred civilian style. Her mostly red hair was roughly shoulder-length, with a few purple streaks in it. Like in her civilian state, her eyes were round, green, and moderately-set. On her forehead, there was a gold tiara with a green stone at its base. A purple choker was around her neck about halfway between her chin and her shoulders, when it became visible enough here. She had a purple neckerchief with a single yellow line of piping around its edges as needed that appeared just after her choker did. The girl's new power locket was round and mostly yellow, wherever possible, when it appeared after that. It was just above a knot in that neckerchief, and above a red bow as well. When her shoulders were revealed, they turned out to be three red rings, wherever they could be. The girl's sailor suit uniform blouse was soon revealed to be mostly, if not entirely, white, and so was her belt at her waist. Her upper arms between armbands at her elbows and her uniform's shoulders were completely bare. Her armbands were purple, and they were quite similar to her shoulder rings. She had white elbow-length gloves. In the small of her back, or just above it, there was a bow that matched the one just below her locket as much as it then could do so here. A purple skirt that was roughly the same length, more or less, as Skyhorse's skirt was soon appeared to everyone's view here. From the hem of that skirt to the top of her boots, then, her legs were completely bare. Her boots were soon revealed to be ankle boots. And they were both made of purple leather, just like the ones that she'd come to the field wearing, in fact.

When the pillar around her completely disappeared, and she realized that well enough, she hollered, "I am Sailor Renaissance, servant of the One who made the Universe! To help the light shine again in the world that once was hidden is to be one of my missions as a Scout! You seek to destroy or conquer the light that is meant to shine in the world. And for that, you shall certainly not be forgiven! Prepare to face the wrath of Sailor Renaissance, who seeks to help bring God's light and life back into a world that needs both greatly, you evil monster!"

Several people began moving toward her, in very short order, including Pyruchio, of course. She shot several arrows toward them, hoping to help Skyhorse and Pilgrim out as much as she then could here, so that they could do whatever they had to do during the current battle. Several arrows hit those people, knocking them out for the rest of the fight. She shot her arrows as she saw fit, while Pilgrim and Skyhorse were still trying to recover from the attacks that'd earlier been sent their way during the fight.

Eventually, Pilgrim and Skyhorse both felt strong enough to resume active participation in the battle. And they both went to work on their current opponents as needed, until Pyruchio was left alone among them, in terms of beings they'd have to fight here. For all the others had been dealt with as needed by the three fighters opposing those beings.

After Pilgrim realized that well enough here, he said, "Skyhorse, you should be able to take care of the rest of this battle now. Do your righteous duty, and destroy this demon for the glory of God above! He will not survive, once you do so!" As with Morga and Pallia, Pyruchio began looking for a means of escape. But just like with Morga and Pallia, such a means of escape didn't appear to him here. Skyhorse's sword glowed as usual, and Skyhorse prepared to do what she needed to do here now, of course.

"Right, Pilgrim." Twenty seconds or so later, then, her current duty here was completely attended to as was actually necessary for her. Before it was, however, the Pilgrim departed again from her sight and hearing ranges, in very short order. And the applicable host body was soon restored in the exact same manner as the host bodies her two previous Negaverse opponents had taken over had been, after she destroyed Pyruchio's cube, if not before then, of course.

As before, Jeddite saw yet another ball of energy disappear from his possession, in like manner as his previous two energy balls had. As it did, he also detected the presence of another Sailor Scout in the area where he'd left Pyruchio's now-destroyed cube. When he did, he soon realized that his current task to gather sufficient amounts of energy for the Negaverse's leaders had just become considerably more difficult, for all the obvious reasons. Queen Beryl would most certainly not be pleased to learn of the presence of another Scout in the local area, in fact.

Jeddite soon teleported back to his base of operations again, without being seen in the process of doing so, and began work on yet another monster. He'd probably not finish it for at least a few days. That was due to the simple fact that he now had two Scouts he'd have to take into account as he worked on that monster, of course. As soon as he got there, he started immediately on the task of creating another monster as needed, in fact.

Back on the field, however, Renaissance was quickly approaching Skyhorse. Skyhorse was now sitting near a sideline of it on the ground. And she was now examining her legs for marks left by the many soccer balls she'd not been able to shield herself from well enough during the just-ended battle, for example. As Renaissance came over, Skyhorse said, "I thank you for your assistance during the fight, Renaissance. It bought me time to recover at least partly from the demon's attacks he made on me during it."

"My pleasure. He really marked you up, it seems," said Renaissance, as she began trying to help Skyhorse attend to her various bruises, et cetera, received in the fight.

It took both Scouts at least a little while as best as they currently could in order to attend to the various bruises, et cetera, that Skyhorse had received during the fight. And by that time, Moonlight Serenade had shown up again near Skyhorse, once he realized it was safe enough for him to do so here. Skyhorse had several bruises still at least a little visible on her legs and arms. But they weren't as bright as they had once been, in fact. For Renaissance had helped her out by healing as many bruises as she could at least a little bit, if not a lot, with the help of her power locket. Not all of those bruises, by the way, but at least some of them, if not many or most of them at all here.

A little while later, then, Renaissance helped Skyhorse up onto Serenade's back, as needed here. Skyhorse and Moonlight Serenade soon set off for Sweet Musicalisti's grounds, just as soon as they could do so well enough here, unlike Sailor Renaissance, who chose to remain where she was for at least a little bit longer. It took Skyhorse and Moonlight Serenade at least twenty or so minutes, if not at least an hour, for them to return to Serenade's lodgings in the area. This, of course, was for all the obvious reasons, in fact.

They passed through the main gates again by 7:15 pm local time, after Skyhorse had once again become just Sylvia Wakefield in her life. Ten minutes after that, they were back in his stall, and she was taking care of him as needed at the current time, with a good deal of help from Reuben and Timothy, where appropriate or required.

After Serenade was hopefully settled for the rest of the night, she soon showered and dressed where needed elsewhere on the complex, before leaving for her home again in the area. She left Sweet Musicalisti's grounds by 8:30 pm, and eventually arrived back at Wakefield Castle by 9 pm, local time. She soon went right to her room, and stayed there for the rest of the night. Sylvia retired to her bed at 11, which was earlier than she normally did. And she was soon quite soundly asleep in it, lost in dreams of the past again.


	8. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

The following day, during her lunch period, Sylvia eventually encountered Rolando and Kiena, among others, on the way to the school's main cafeteria. The three of them greeted each other briefly, and soon got to talking to each other about the events of the previous afternoon at the college where Skyhorse's latest battle had taken place.

They did so, after seeing that their usual tables elsewhere in the cafeteria had been taken up sufficiently already. So they found a still-empty table elsewhere in the cafeteria, and sat down at it. Not more than a few moments after doing so, Sylvia asked Rolando, "Who do you think this new Scout is, Mr. Volois?"

"I really have no idea at the current time. I wonder if she'll prove a strong ally to Sailor Skyhorse in the future or not. In fact, Miss Wakefield, I even wonder where she came from, and why she's here now as well, for that matter."

Kiena Jacano now knew she was Sailor Renaissance, due to Isaiah's earlier initiation of her as a Scout. But she still didn't yet know that Sylvia was Sailor Skyhorse, or that Rolando was the Pilgrim. In time, she'd come to know both those things. But at least as of the current time, she didn't know they were secretly either Sailor Skyhorse or the Pilgrim, for the obvious reasons.

Rolando Volois didn't know he was also secretly the Pilgrim. Neither did he know that Sylvia was secretly Sailor Skyhorse nor did he know that Kiena was now Sailor Renaissance. In time, he'd learn those things, but didn't actually know them currently in his life.

As for Sylvia Wakefield, she currently didn't know the civilian identities of either Pilgrim or Sailor Renaissance at all in her life. But, if at all possible, she'd eventually learn them in it, just the same. Just not for a while, most likely.

"I think you might be right, Mr. Volois," said Kiena. "Though just how right you might be, I just don't really know yet, if I ever will."

They talked quite a bit with each other during lunch, if and whenever possible, in fact. Eventually, they finished their lunches, and had to go to their next classes, when the need arose for them all. They parted from each other, not yet knowing when they might meet up again in their lives. All three of them just had a feeling now, though, that they'd do that at least every so often in the future of their respective lives.

Several hours later, after school ended, Sylvia and Kiena were both patronizing a local restaurant at the same time. In fact, it was the same restaurant that Sylvia had earlier gone to after her second Scout battle. It was a pizza place, primarily, though it occasionally might serve assorted other foods. Also, an arcade of sorts was attached to it behind the main part of the restaurant, or above it, as the case might be here.

They were sitting at separate tables alone, still in their respective DBJHS school uniforms. Eventually, as Sylvia was having some pizza and grape juice at her table, Kiena passed by. She passed by on the way toward a trash can so that she could throw away the things that she'd have to throw away here. Kiena didn't see Sylvia sitting at her table until she was within four or five feet of it, but when she did, she said, "This is a real surprise, Sylvia."

Sylvia soon recognized Kiena's voice, and looked up. Kiena had just stopped walking toward that trash can, once she'd seen Sylvia well enough here, in fact. Sylvia said, "You can say that again. Kiena, I believe your name was."

"Yes, we met each other at the Athletic Club earlier, Sylvia."

"What day was that, if you can remember well enough, Kiena?"

"Saturday, September 15, 1990, Sylvia."

"So about a week ago?"

"That's right. Hold on a minute, and I'll join you here, if that's all right with you, Sylvia."

"Fine with me. I'll still be here for at least a little while longer, Kiena. Do what you have to do, and then join me, if you so choose." Kiena then disposed of the necessary items in the trash, and kept the things that she had to keep at the present time. A few moments after doing that, she then joined Sylvia at her table, sitting down directly across from her at it.

After she did so, Sylvia soon asked, "Have you always been a resident of this area?"

"Generally, yes. As far as I know, my family's people may have lived their lives here for generations. In terms of being in the local area, that is. I don't know if they've been here for at least a century, for sure, but I think they have. And I think we may even have had roots here at least since the time of the Renaissance, for that matter. Our known family history prior to 1900 or so is at least a little sketchy in places. We may have relatives located all over the world, as far as we can tell at the present time. Though we're not really sure about that right now, if we ever will be, Sylvia."

"Well, my family's people have certainly lived here for at least a millennium, as far as we currently know in our lives. Perhaps even since before the time of Christ, or even the time of Judah's King Hezekiah, for that matter. There are even rumors that our family goes all the way back to the time of Jacob, through his son Judah. Though we can't currently prove those rumors beyond a shadow of a doubt yet, if we'll ever be able to."

"If those rumors can be proven, then your family would be of the Tribe of Judah?"

"I believe so, Kiena. But as far as we know, we're Gentiles. Though we could be wrong about that, of course." Sylvia said these things after finishing her last piece of her available pizza that she wanted to have at the present time. Two other medium-sized pizzas were also on the table next to her and Kiena. But those pizzas weren't going to be consumed in the restaurant by anyone. For Sylvia had purchased them for the rest of her family, in fact.

The two of them talked for a while with each other, before Sylvia suddenly got the urge to hand Kiena a watch which could possibly double as a communicator. When Kiena asked why, Sylvia said, "I have a rather strange feeling for some reason that you'll actually need this quite often in the future, Kiena. Please take it, just in case that's true."

"Sylvia, I already have a watch."

"I, somehow, have a feeling you might come to need to use this watch I'm now handing you quite often in the future. I really don't know why, but I just have it, just the same. So, Kiena, please take this watch, and wear it whenever possible." She handed Kiena a watch she'd recently purchased, and Kiena put it on her left wrist, after a bit more urging from Sylvia here.

Some time later, then, the two of them parted for at least a little while, if not a long while. It was almost 5:30 pm when they both did so. Kiena left the restaurant's premises at 5:30 pm. Sylvia stayed on them for about another fifteen or so minutes. When Sylvia was ready to leave them, she left them in very short order, in a rather calm and deliberate manner.

Sylvia returned home for a while, in order to drop off the other two pizzas she'd bought for the rest of her family. That done, while in her room, she changed into her usual riding attire, and picked out some casual enough clothes for her to wear after she got done riding again. After she'd done that well enough to suit her here, she put them in her backpack, as usual. That done, she left her room again in the usual manner.

Five minutes later, she was heading off toward Sweet Musicalisti, as had often been the case for her for the past few weeks, more or less. She eventually arrived there by 6:30 pm local time. Not very long after that, she and Serenade were off the stable complex's grounds again, and riding all over the area, just as soon as they could do so well enough there.

Sylvia and Serenade patrolled periodically in the area. Both while she was still Sylvia, and while she was Skyhorse. After about two hours or so of this, they eventually made their way to the cavern they'd unexpectedly discovered earlier. They arrived at the cavern around 9 or so local time. They spent most, if not all, of the next hour or so there, doing whatever came to mind for them both while there. While there, Skyhorse powered down temporarily, at least, and became just Sylvia again.

For a while, then, Sylvia and Serenade did assorted things in and around the cavern that'd hopefully help the Sailor Scouts who'd ever use this as a base of operations out quite a bit in the future. Mostly Sylvia, for the obvious reasons, of course. She started work on outfitting the cavern as any or all of the applicable Scouts might need it outfitted in the future, if she hadn't already begun doing so by then. Often with Serenade's input as she did so, in fact.

Among the things that she set up were future sleeping areas for the Scouts, whenever they might need to use them. Before she and Serenade had found the cavern, it and many, if not most or all, of the nearby nooks and tunnels were quite empty of anything at all. Except for torches, for example, anyway. She outfitted some nearby nooks to the cavern with the appropriate items related to sleeping areas, and others with assorted supplies she'd recently purchased for future Scout use whenever necessary. Still other nooks, she eventually outfitted with certain equipment, especially of a computer-related nature, as well. Several nearby nooks, however, still remained empty, as needed, just in case their areas might need to have any number of other things in them periodically, in actual reality.

She set aside a moderately-large nook aside, for example, for vehicle storage. Another, she set aside for animal lodgings, as she then saw fit to set it aside at the current time. Eventually, she felt that she'd done all that she could do at that time in the cavern and the nearby nooks to it. So she soon said, "Serenade, I believe that we've done all that we can do here currently. I think we'd best get you back to the stable complex as soon as possible."

"Agreed. Sylvia, have you found a way yet for me to hopefully be able to contact you whenever necessary in the future?"

"Not yet. But when I do, I'll certainly let you know, if I can."

They eventually left the area of the cavern completely behind again, and set off for Serenade's Sweet Musicalisti lodgings. For a while, whenever she could then do so, Sylvia patrolled as Skyhorse on the way back there. They arrived back at those grounds by 11:30 pm local time. When they rode up together, with Sylvia back in her civilian state again, for the obvious reasons, Mr. Sherman was sitting on a hay bale talking to his wife, who was now grooming Princess Caralina.

Sylvia soon said, "Hello again, Mr. and Mrs. Sherman. It's good to see you both again."

Danielle stuck her head out of Princess Caralina's stall, and soon said, "Likewise, Miss Wakefield. It's always a pleasure to see you around here, it seems."

"What are you doing, Mrs. Sherman?"

"I'm grooming a horse here. Would you like to see her?"

"If that's all right with you, sure."

So Danielle had Sylvia come to Princess Caralina's stall, and then enter it, just as soon as she wanted to do that. Sylvia entered Princess Caralina's stall, and saw a roughly three-year-old or so horse that was about 14 or so hands high at the shoulder. Princess Caralina was a mostly reddish-brown horse with many mostly small silver and black markings on her hindquarters and legs in several places. She also had mostly white stockings on all four of her legs, wherever appropriate for her then. On her head, there were several other similar markings to the ones on her hindquarters and legs, especially between her big normally brown-looking eyes. Her nose was mostly reddish-brown, for that matter, as were her chin and neck. A narrow set of three black or silver rings was present around her neck just in back of where her mostly black mane ended for her. Two of the rings were black, and one of the rings was silver. And they were all naturally made, for that matter.

Sylvia examined Princess Caralina for a considerable length of time, before saying, "If you ever get to breed her, I think that you should only breed her with Moonlight Serenade, for some reason I don't yet understand, Mrs. Sherman. At least in the usual manner, if not in all manners, that is, in fact."

"And what about Moonlight Serenade?" asked Mr. Sherman.

"He should be paired up only with her, I think. At least in terms of when it ever comes to the usual manner, as well, perhaps, Mr. Sherman."

Sylvia talked with Danielle and Jonah for at least a little while longer, until she realized it was now almost 12:15 on Saturday morning in the local area. As she did that, she also attended to Serenade's needs, if she'd not already done so before that time. By 12:30, then, Serenade was taken care of well enough by her, if he'd not already been by sometime around 12:15 in the morning, in fact.

After he was set for the rest of the night, she soon left for another part of the stable complex. She did this for the obvious reasons, of course. Not long after doing so, she returned to where Danielle and Jonah were still attending to things as they then saw fit here. She wished them well, and good rests for them both between the current time and the next time she might see either or both of them again. They did the same, in like manner.

After that happened, she soon left the stable complex's grounds again. She returned home to Wakefield Castle by 1:15 in the morning, and went to her room not very long after that. Of course, she soon retired to her bed again, for the obvious reasons. By 1:30, then, she was quite soundly asleep again in her bed, lost in any number of dreams there, in very short order.

Later that day, Kiena and Sylvia encountered each other again in the same mall that Skyhorse, Pilgrim, and Serenade had defended a week earlier. It was about 11 in the morning when they did so. Kiena was shopping for some books at two or three bookstores in that mall, and Sylvia was heading back to the art supplies store she'd earlier visited in it. This time, Sylvia was in search of more paint and canvas so she could do more paintings in her room as often as time permitted her to do so.

They met up with each other after Kiena had exited one of the aforementioned bookstores there. And when they did, Kiena unintentionally, and unknowingly, dropped her power locket from her right hand by accident. She'd had it off her necklace for a while, and had been holding it in her hand briefly. As soon as Sylvia saw her accidentally drop it, she set her own things down briefly, and grabbed it up before it could be stepped on or kicked somewhere it didn't need to be by anyone. She managed to do that well enough before half a dozen people of assorted sizes and both genders would have crowded in on them both. Sylvia held it protectively in one of her hands, not letting anyone else get a glimpse of it or knock it loose from her grip. At least not until she and Kiena were both sufficiently passed by many other people in the mall, anyway.

After that became the case well enough to suit Sylvia sufficiently well here, she soon secretly studied the locket, and recognized it as Sailor Renaissance's power locket. Moments later, when it was sufficiently safe for her to do so here, she said, "Kiena, I seem to have saved your locket from damage or destruction here. You might want to be more careful how you handle your locket in the future. You might very well need it whenever you have to transform into your Scout state as Sailor Renaissance."

"How do you know about that?"

"We met on the soccer field during your first Scout battle, Kiena."

"Are you Skyhorse?" They went to the art supplies store Sylvia had just been heading toward when she and Kiena had unexpectedly encountered each other.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am." Sylvia answered this in a very quiet voice, of course, for the obvious reasons. She also handed Kiena back her locket, and saw Kiena hide it better in her things, but not where she might accidentally drop it again like she just had done.

"I see. So I was actually helping you in the battle?"

"Yes, you were, though you didn't know that yet."

"Okay. This is quite big, no doubt." They both soon began looking for things that Sylvia then needed or desired for herself at the current time.

"You've got that right, Kiena. Do you want to go somewhere to talk about the situation, then, in very short order?"

"Do you have a particular place in mind?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. Bring Isaiah, if you can, the next time you see him. I haven't seen him since our first battle together, it seems." Sylvia checked a few pieces of canvas, in order to hopefully see how good they actually were, as she said these things as quietly as she could here.

"I haven't seen him since yesterday, I believe."

"What time yesterday?"

"Just before I left for school yesterday, if I remember well enough here."

"Where did you last see him?"

"In a tree by my house. He flew off to somewhere before I could talk to him again then."

"Did you see him for a long enough time to talk to him after the battle?" Sylvia chose a few of those pieces of canvas for possible purchase here, as she asked Kiena this.

"No, he didn't come close enough to me so that I could do that well enough."

"Where do you think he is now?"

"Hopefully not anywhere where he might be attacked again like he was earlier when you defended him."

"Agreed." They eventually found all the things that Sylvia thought she might need or desire. And Sylvia double-checked all those things for quality and price, in very short order, if at all possible, before deciding to buy them all. Sylvia then brought all those things to the necessary place in the art supplies store so that the cashier could ring them up as part of a sales ticket. That done, the cashier rang up all the required items for that ticket. Sylvia soon opened her purse and paid the necessary amount of money for those items. The cashier and others then bagged up those items as needed here. Sylvia and Kiena soon left the store in question, and proceeded with their respective shopping plans elsewhere in the mall as the need or desire arose for them both.

Some length of time later, it was about 1 pm local time on Saturday, September 22, 1990. They were then just inside the part of the mall nearest where Skyhorse, Pilgrim, and Serenade had defended the mall against the terrorists who'd sought to attack it with a bus. Kiena and Sylvia soon went through the nearest exit point for that mall, and walked outside it for a while, until they came where their vehicles were parked elsewhere near the mall.

First they came to where the Jacanos' station wagon was in the mall's parking lot, so that Kiena could get behind its wheel again. Kiena got behind the wheel, as Sylvia stayed near her briefly. Kiena asked, "Where is this place you spoke of?"

"Set your locket to detect Scout-related signals, if you can, Kiena." Sylvia showed her how to do so by demonstrating with her own locket, turning it on in the necessary manner while she did so. She'd stumbled on how to do that while she'd been patrolling the previous evening and night, rather unexpectedly. She'd done that before getting to the cavern with Serenade, in fact. Sylvia had been Skyhorse when she did that, not yet fully realizing that she'd actually done so then. She only fully realized that she'd done so after leaving Serenade again at Sweet Musicalisti, for that matter.

Kiena did so, just as Sylvia told her how to do that. After it was then set properly so that it'd do so well enough, Sylvia told her that here. Kiena asked, "Now what do I do, seeing as my locket can now detect such signals often enough, if and whenever possible?"

"Follow the signals from my locket. I'll lead you there as quickly as I can as well as I can, Kiena. Also, do you have another vehicle that you might be able to use to get to where I'll be going, by any chance?"

"I believe so. Should I change to that vehicle, once I get back to my family's residence, then, Sylvia?"

"I'd strongly advise that you do so, in actual reality."

"Very well. I'll do just that, then, if at all possible."

"Keep your locket active, just in case you might need to transform rather suddenly somewhere, Kiena."

"Will do." Minutes later, then, Kiena left the necessary parking lot near the mall. Sylvia soon went to her van as well, and returned to Wakefield Castle for a while.

When Sylvia eventually arrived in her family's kitchen area again, her mother asked, "What are your plans for the rest of the day, if I may ask you this here, Sylvia?"

"I'm perhaps going to go look for several people or things to paint in several of my current paintings, Mother. That's among any other things I may or may not also do today or tonight, just for your information."

"I see. And how soon might you have enough paintings ready for another show, by any chance at all?"

"I don't really know right now. Things have picked up quite considerably since school started again for me, Mother. It may be a while, or it could be soon. It depends on how much time that I can spend on them, of course."

"You've apparently been riding quite a bit of late, it seems. I've had to wash your usual riding attire much more than usual of late." Sylvia began helping her mother with some dishes and things she was then working on in the Wakefields' kitchen.

"Well, it seems that I've found a horse that I really like riding a lot of late, Mother. He's quite good-looking, in fact." She spent several minutes telling her mother about Moonlight Serenade as much as she could, and wanted to, tell her about him.

By the time she was done doing so well enough to suit herself sufficiently here, her mother said, "I see. Well, it's too bad we can't exactly lodge him here, then, Sylvia. Or any other horse, for that matter. If he's as good a horse as you seem to think he is, of course."

"Oh, he is, Mother. He most certainly is. You can be absolutely sure of that," said Sylvia, as she suddenly snatched five cookies from a plate near the Wakefields' refrigerator. Three of those cookies had raisins and miniature marshmallows in them, in fact. And the other two she grabbed here were chocolate chip ones. Her mother frowned a bit at her as she snatched them, but let her keep those cookies, just the same.

"I hope you're not going to ruin your supper with those cookies, Sylvia."

"Don't worry about that, Mother. I'll not let them do that. I might be out late tonight, however. Just so you know ahead of time well enough, I don't exactly know just how late, in actual reality. But I might be back rather late tonight, just the same. Especially if I'm riding Moonlight Serenade again, just so you know."

"What do the Shermans think of you riding him so often? Do they mind you doing so at all, by any chance?"

"They don't mind. In fact, I saved him from some mistreatment by a groom some time ago. The Shermans fired that groom, and he was taken away to jail some time ago. I've been helping them out with Serenade whenever possible ever since. Especially after I've ridden him at various times of late."

"I see. Is he for sale currently, by any chance?"

"No, he's not. If he ever were, I suspect that I'd have the first chance to buy him, before he was put on the open market."

"Because of what you've done to help the Shermans out with him, perhaps?"

"Yes, Mother. Someday, I have a feeling that I might just get that chance to do so. I may not have the money to do that at his likely monetary value. At least not right now, anyway. But I still believe someday, I will, if I don't yet have enough money to do that well enough."

"How much is his current monetary value, as far as you know?"

"Perhaps $100,000, more or less."

"So he's not cheap, it seems?"

"That's right. But if things go well enough for us in the meantime, I think I'll eventually have enough money to buy him outright. Whether it's from work, my assorted shows, or some other means, I think I'll have that much money when the need eventually arises for me to have it at a certain time, Mother. God willing, of course."

For a little while longer, then, Sylvia helped her mother out more in the kitchen. At least until her mother released her to do whatever she then wanted or needed to do, of course. Sylvia went to her room again for a short period of time, before exiting and locking it again as needed. On the way out the front door, she made sure she had everything with her that she might need to have while away from Wakefield Castle, no matter what it was. This was for all the obvious reasons, quite naturally enough.

Sylvia soon drove off in her van again from Wakefield Castle's grounds. Not too long after doing that, she began heading toward the required cavern in the local area. But only after first making at least a few detours to throw off any possible pursuers who might just have decided to try to tail her anywhere in the local area, in fact. Especially ones who might have possibly been affiliated with the Arab terrorists that she, Serenade, and the Pilgrim had earlier fought with, while she'd been Skyhorse, for that matter.

She only turned completely toward the cavern after she was as sure as possible that nobody would be able to track her as she did so. Or as she went there, for that matter. By the time that she got there, she'd transformed into her Scout state even while still driving. She did that by saying her transformation phrase with both hands on the van's steering wheel, in fact.

Skyhorse arrived in the cavern around 3:30 pm or so. When she got there, she soon saw that Kiena was inbound, having located Skyhorse through her locket, as expected by her. Kiena arrived in the cavern in the necessary manner by 4 pm local time, after having first transformed herself into her Scout state as Sailor Renaissance. And she soon brought her vehicle to a certain nook in the area, once Skyhorse told her where to take it in the area.

Kiena had transformed into her Sailor state about half a mile or so away from the cavern's area, in the same manner that Sylvia had done so earlier. After she got close enough to the cavern, Skyhorse then revealed the necessary entrance/exit for the Scouts' future base of operations for whenever they could get out of Jerusalem's main parts well enough. A little while later, then, the entrance/exit was again cloaked as necessary, after Renaissance was deep enough into the cavern's immediate area to allow that to be the case here.

After Renaissance pulled her vehicle to a stop in the nook Sylvia had earlier set aside for vehicle storage, Skyhorse came to one side of it. Moments later, then, Renaissance stepped out of a custom-designed vehicle that one of her great-grandfathers had originally built over time from the bottom up. It was somewhat unique, after at least forty or fifty years of mostly active service to her family and to herself, in fact. It even had technology from still-unknown sources as part of it, which seemed to border on being rather futuristic in some places.

The engines were somewhat futuristic-looking, while the interior of the car looked quite reminiscent of American-made cars of the 1950's or 1960's, wherever possible. The exterior of the car generally looked even older, like it was perhaps from the 1930's or 1940's. The wheels were of good size, and so were their wells. Her maternal grandfather had also periodically worked on the car, in the past, and so had her mother, whenever possible. Now she was the main person taking care of that very same vehicle. And she fully expected that she'd always be until it was also time for her to turn that job over to someone else in her life, if and whenever possible.

When Renaissance stepped out of her car, she was wearing driving goggles, reminiscent of ones that long-ago racecar drivers used to wear during their races. Skyhorse asked here why she was doing that, Renaissance said, "I normally wear them whenever I take this car out for a spin to various places. It's my way of connecting to the past, you might say, Skyhorse."

Minutes later, then, they went to the main area of the cavern. Skyhorse showed her around it, and around various nooks near it. The whole tour of the developing Scout base took about an hour or two, at least, for them both, while Skyhorse was showing Renaissance around it as she then needed to here.

By the time that they were done with the tour, Renaissance said, "This place has definite potential to be an excellent base of operations for us whenever we're not in the city, Sky."

"Serenade said much the same thing earlier when we first explored it at considerable length, in fact, Ren." Skyhorse told her just what she and Serenade had said to and done with each other when they'd first come to the cavern and the nearby area, not too much later.

After Sky did so well enough to suit her sufficiently here, Ren said, "Interesting. He may indeed be quite right here about such things." They conversed for quite a bit more time with each other about things related to them both as civilians and as Scouts. And Sky told Ren all that she currently could about the Scouts and the related history for them.

"So just how long do you think this fight is going to continue for us into the future?"

"Well, we're going to have to find the Moon Princess, whoever she might happen to be here, Ren. I don't know who she is just yet, but she'll still need to be found, if at all possible. And found before it's too late to stop our enemies from doing what they might wish to do in this Universe of ours, of course."

"Are we perhaps going to be the only Scouts that will be fighting here in the future?"

"No, I don't think so. I have a very strong feeling, for some reason, that there'll actually be plenty more Scouts to awaken in the future for us. And do so whenever the need might then arise for them each to do so here. I don't know who they'll be, and when they might appear, of course. But I fully expect that we'll be seeing plenty more Scouts in the future, just the same."

Around 5 pm, after some more time working in the cavern and the nearby nooks as they saw fit to work in them, Sky asked Ren, "What do you call your vehicle, if you actually have a name for it?"

"I call it 'Spiritseeker,' Skyhorse. That's what its original builder called it, and the name has stuck ever since it was first constructed. Over time, it has been modified inside and out, but the name has still stuck for it. And I see no reason why it should ever change in the future, if it can possibly be avoided at all, in fact."

"I suppose you're right, Ren. I mean, it's your vehicle, and you can call it whatever you want, of course."

They worked until about 6 pm, more or less, before Ren suggested that it might be best if they leave the cavern behind again in very short order. Sky considered her suggestion for a few minutes, at most, before saying, "Very well, Ren. We'll come back here and continue setting up this base of operations later. I'd suggest the next time you come here, you start bringing more of your things here, if and whenever possible. Not everything, of course, but enough things here over time to make sure you have a retreat of sorts you can go to in case the need arises for you to do so in the future."

"Perhaps you're right. Have you begun bringing some of your things here already?"

"Sure I have. I've brought assorted things here from my bedroom that most likely won't be missed at all from it. Or at least not very much, at the current time, I think. That's if I'm accurate enough with my thoughts about such things, of course."

"Should we bring Isaiah here the first chance we get?"

"If at all possible?"

"Yes, of course that's what I mean." They soon began to get ready to leave the cavern again, so that they could do other things they might then need to do in their respective lives.

"Sure, if we can convince him to come here well enough. Seeing as that we're now both Sailor Scouts in our lives, we must now also do our very best to keep countless others from knowing about our respective Scout states at all. That's if they don't actually need to know about them at all, quite obviously enough. No matter who they are. I fully realize we may not always be able to prevent that from ever happening at least once sometime in the future, if not more than once in it. That's for all the obvious reasons, Renaissance. But we still have to try to do that to the best of our respective abilities to do so in it, of course. At least for as long as we can, however that might be possible for us to do, anyway."

By 6:20 pm, then, they were both gone from the cavern and its immediate area again. They split up just after leaving the cavern's area behind enough. And they didn't expect to meet each other again for the rest of the night, when they did so. Kiena/Renaissance soon went back to her home, and began collecting assorted things from her room as Sylvia/Skyhorse had earlier suggested to her.

As for Skyhorse, she patrolled for a little while in her van, before powering down while still driving it. By the time she found herself at a local dance hall elsewhere in the area, she was again just Sylvia Wakefield again. After stopping there, she soon entered it, and found an empty place to sit down in it. She soon pulled a sketchpad out of her backpack, and some drawing utensils, where needed. Next, she began sketching assorted people elsewhere in that dance hall. Whether they were the patrons or the staff of the dance hall, she did so. However, she didn't quite draw them just as they then looked, for some reason she didn't quite understand just yet, if she ever would do so, in her life. Instead, she drew them as if they were people from a long-lost time and place. Specifically, she drew them as if they were people who'd been residents of Earth's Moon during the Silver Millennium, whether they were Moon-born or not.

She sketched many of them in fancy dresses or other suitable clothing appropriate for about a thousand years before, if not all of them. There were several people present in the dance hall who seemed at least a little familiar to her, though she didn't actually know why that might be the case for her right now. Among the people there was a girl with a rather weird hairstyle. This particular girl had meatball-like buns and rather long ponytails on her head. And they currently appeared blonde, whether or not they actually were at the present time, in the currently-available light for the dance hall.

This girl was to be a Scout in the future, though neither Sylvia nor she yet knew that yet. Nor did anyone else mortal, for that matter. She wouldn't be revealed and/or awakened as such for a considerable length of time. But she was going to eventually be revealed and/or awakened as one sometime yet in the future. She was currently dancing with a boy about her present age of roughly fourteen years or so old. But this boy wouldn't be one who generally would aid her when she fought in the future, most likely.

Other future Scouts were also present in the dance hall, though they all didn't know that yet, in fact. In time, they too would be revealed and awakened as Scouts, when the need for them to be arose for each of them in their lives. Just not for a while would they likely be, if the need for them to be hadn't yet made itself known, and if they couldn't be found before they were actually meant to become Scouts.

Sylvia stayed in the dance hall for about an hour or so, until about 7:45 pm or so local time. And she periodically sketched several dozen people in the dance hall as the urge struck her to do so while there. No matter who they might be, she still did so, just the same.

Eventually, she got bored with doing so, and left the dance hall behind here. She left rather calmly and rather silently, if at all possible, at the current time. After which, she returned to her van, and continued her patrolling in the local area at least a bit more, in fact. She didn't transform back into Skyhorse as she did so, but she still resumed patrolling in the local area for at least a little while longer, just the same.

She patrolled in the area until about 8:15 or so, before deciding to head off toward Sweet Musicalisti again. Reuben and Timothy were working near the stable complex's main gates when she pulled up to them. They let her onto the complex's grounds, as usual, and she soon went to Serenade's stall. By 9, then, she was on his back, riding him around the same riding area that Jonah had earlier watched them in. And she was there with him while Jonah and others were nearby, as the need then arose for them to be near there.

She rode him around that area until about 9:30, before he said, "I think that's enough time for today, Sylvia. I'd like to go back to my stall again now." So Sylvia took him back to his stall as soon as she could then do so here. And she prepared his stall as needed for the rest of the night. As she did so, alone, they briefly conversed secretly with each other, with him apparently making horse kinds of sounds, just in case other people might be hearing him at the present time, while he was actually talking with her. As for her, she didn't seem to say anything that the average person who didn't know of the Scouts or that Serenade could talk might find even the least bit suspicious at all. Even though she actually was talking to him about the things that'd happened for her and Kiena earlier that day, whenever they were both together with each other then.

Around 10, more or less, she finished preparing Serenade and his stall for the rest of the night. With that done, he soon said good night to her, and went to sleep as he saw fit in his stall. Before he went to sleep, she wished him rather pleasant dreams, of course. Eventually, though, after he'd gone to sleep in his stall, she left it, and took care of herself as her situation then required her to here. She took care of herself in the necessary manner or manners in rather short order, and was completely gone from Sweet Musicalisti's grounds by 10:30 pm.

Sylvia then went to Liz's house briefly, and visited her for a little while. She showed her a few of the sketches that she'd made at the dance hall. And Liz eventually said, "Some of these have potential to be good paintings for you, I think, Sylvia."

"You do?"

"For instance, a few of these sketches seem to feature a girl apparently with blonde hair in a strange hairstyle. Others seem to feature several other people with assorted hair colors and styles. Do you know any of them at all, by any chance?"

"No, I don't believe so. Why do you ask?"

"Because you might want to try to find out who they are, I suspect, for some yet-unknown reason. I don't know why I think you might want to do that in the future. I just know that I think that you might want to some length of time in the future. At least I think that might be true for you right now, if I won't always think that here for you."

Sylvia and Liz conversed for a little while longer with each other. And they did so mostly in the McCalls' living room area, before Liz eventually said, "I suppose I'd better get to bed now. For it's getting rather close to my usual bedtime on Saturday night, it seems to me, Sylvia. Let's talk again later, if and whenever we can."

Sylvia left Liz's home again in rather short order. After leaving her friend's house, she went back to Wakefield Castle for the rest of the night. She was back there by 11:15 pm or so, local time. By 11:30, she was in her room for the rest of the night. And by 11:45, in her bed, quite soundly asleep in it, lost in dreams of the past again, for that matter.


	9. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

About a week or so later, Jeddite was about to complete work on another monster in his secret base of operations. He had worked on it whenever possible, and tried to take into account the fact that it would have to fight against two Scouts, and perhaps one or two of their allies, after he released it from its cube somewhere. Quite obviously, he didn't know yet just how successful it would be against them, of course. But he still hoped that it'd be quite successful against them, just the same.

He worked on it until just after 3:30 pm on October 1, 1990, when he realized that he'd done all that he could do for it here. At least at the current time, anyway.

Jeddite soon put it in a cube then in his workshop. Then he put that cube in a pocket under his usual Arabic-style disguise. He left his base not long after doing that, hailing a taxi just as soon as he could do that here. After getting into the taxi, he asked the cabdriver to deliver him to a park somewhere in the area, and they did so. He paid the driver as needed, and then exited the cab. Once the driver left him there, he looked all over the park for a good place to leave his cube, and finally decided to leave it in the mouth of a lion statue. After he did so, he soon went to another part of the park at least a quarter of it away, in order to wait for the proper time to release the monster from its cube here.

As he waited, he wondered if the monster would be able to be more successful against the Scouts or their allies than his earlier three monsters had been so far. Of course, he hoped that they would be, but also still realized that might not actually prove to be the case here for him or that particular monster. He waited for a while, before releasing the monster. He released them just a few minutes before Sylvia and Kiena eventually arrived at the park as well, at most, and the monster suddenly took over a park worker quite secretly and quite silently.

Meanwhile, as Sylvia was about to leave school again, she met up rather unexpectedly with Kiena. Kiena said, just as soon as she could pull Sylvia into a currently-empty room, "It seems I've just gotten a strange feeling here, Sylvia."

"Describe that feeling as briefly and as accurately as you can, please, then, Kiena." So Kiena did so. After she did so, Sylvia said, "I wonder if our unseen enemy is about to try to cause trouble for us here in the area again."

"I hope not. This is for all the obvious reasons here, of course. Do you happen to know just where I live now?"

"I don't think so."

"Well, if my feeling proves sufficiently accurate, would you like me to show you where it is? Supposing I get a chance to do so, of course."

"Sure, why not? I mean, we might have to be with each other quite a bit in the future, right? So if that might be the case, it might be best if we know where the other one of us lives, if at all possible, Kiena."

Several minutes later, then, they were off the school's grounds, and heading for a nearby park, of course. Just after they parked their vehicles near that park, then, they found a suitable enough place to transform, and did so as quickly and as inconspicuously as possible. They did that as the park began to fill up with many students who'd just gotten out of their schools for the rest of the day.

Just a few moments after going to that place to transform, at most, they were Skyhorse and Renaissance, respectively. They didn't know yet just where in the park they'd have to go. But they'd eventually find out, when the need arose for them to do so here. In the meantime, they prepared for action. Even while keeping their assorted weapons hidden for the moment in their respective pockets of a sort.

Eventually, they arrived near enough to where the monster and assorted other people in the park were beginning to wreak havoc in it. And where they were trying to drain energy from whatever and whoever they could drain it from at that time, for that matter. Skyhorse and Renaissance watched them for a little while from behind a large bush, so as to remain hidden until they felt they'd have to show themselves here. They studied the situation for a little while, so as to hopefully figure out better how to position themselves in order to deal with it most effectively, and how to fight that monster, of course.

Eventually, Skyhorse had Renaissance sneak through the park as safely as she could to another place in it, so that she and Ren could hopefully attack the monster from two directions at the same time. When she got sufficiently good confirmation that Ren was where she wanted her now, Sky told her to stay there until the need arose for her to move again here, of course. Ren confirmed those orders, and then closed the channel. Skyhorse soon showed herself, once she was ready to do so well enough.

Seconds later, after Skyhorse made a short introductory speech, similar to her previous ones, Renaissance showed as well, and made an introductory speech of her own. The monster introduced herself as Ibudia, after showing herself here, in fact. Ibudia periodically sent various substances their way. Especially ones that had to deal with cleaning supplies.

She looked much, though not entirely, like a custodian at the current time, and had assorted tools and equipment, such as hoses, at her current disposal. They both dodged her attacks as best as they could. Even after she made many of the people around her apparently try to cause them problems during the battle.

If they were forced to do so, they fought against her unwilling and unknowing assistants, of course. But they were as careful as they could currently be to not give those people any permanent injuries or wounds, in fact. Even if it meant they themselves had to take some hits from them or Ibudia while doing so, they still did so.

Eventually, while they were still battling here, the Pilgrim, Isaiah, and Serenade showed up. Skyhorse and Renaissance both warned Moonlight Serenade and Isaiah both not to harm the unwilling and unknowing helpers of Ibudia here, if it could possibly be avoided at all. They didn't have to do the same for Pilgrim, in fact. For he saw immediately, as he arrived, what the situation was for them all at the current time in the battle.

Pilgrim soon made a rather brief speech, as usual, and then engaged several of the people fighting against Sky and Ren in the battle. He soon had several people rendered sufficiently unconscious in it, by wise use of his available weapons, et cetera, in fact. After which, he eventually departed, when his presence was no longer required at the battle's location.

As for Serenade and Isaiah, while often working together, they helped knock more of Ibudia's unknowing assistants out of the fight, as needed, by rendering them unconscious as well, just as soon as they could do so. When their presence was no longer required anywhere in the park, they too departed the scene, just as soon as they could do so safely enough and well enough.

After everyone who had participated in the fight besides Skyhorse, Renaissance, and Ibudia had left or been rendered unconscious, Sky and Ren did a combination attack on Ibudia to weaken her enough to hopefully allow Sky to finish her off. The attack reduced Ibudia's defenses to nothing, leaving her completely unable to defend herself any longer in the present battle. Ten seconds later, then, Ibudia was completely destroyed as necessary. As was her cube, of course. As Ibudia was being destroyed in the prescribed manner, the formerly demon-controlled host body was also restored quite completely as then needed here, for the obvious reasons.

As soon as they could slip away, then, they did so. And they found a safe enough place to power down again, just as soon as they could. After finding that place, and after seeing it was then safe enough for them to do so currently, they both powered down again. And they became just Sylvia and Kiena again, of course.

Some time later, they found other things to do for them both, and split from each other for at least a little while, if not for a long while. Sylvia went to the same library where she'd earlier met Rolando rather unexpectedly. While Kiena went to the Athletic Club to participate in a dance class there with Leah and several other people she then knew in her life.

Sylvia stayed at the library until about 7, and then left it for Sweet Musicalisti. But she didn't go straight there from the library, in fact. For she made a brief stop at Wakefield Castle to change into some suitable riding attire, and to pick up another change of clothes for herself. Her sister Martha asked, before she could leave Wakefield Castle again, "Are you going to see Moonlight Serenade again, Sylvia?"

"As a matter of fact, I am. Why do you ask?"

"You seem to be spending nearly every day with him, Sylvia. Is he really a good horse?"

"The best I've ever ridden, I think, Martha."

"Really? Do you think I could see him someday?"

"We'll see. But just not for a while. He's still getting used to being around me, Martha. Perhaps later, I can let you see him."

The two sisters conversed with each other for just a few moments more, before Sylvia left Wakefield Castle again for Sweet Musicalisti. After Sylvia left, Martha found Rebecca, and found her in their room again.

When Martha returned to the bedroom that she shared with Rebecca, Rebecca said, "It seems like something's on your mind, Martha."

"Yes, you might say that, Becky." Martha was now about five or so months past her last birthday, which had been her 7th. As for Rebecca, she was about two or so months past her 12th birthday. Their brother Ulysses was about six or so weeks past his 10th birthday, as well.

Martha was a girl with roughly shoulder-length dark brown hair, and she was often interested in helping Sylvia in her garden. She had bright green moderately-set eyes. She sometimes would wear glasses, especially when reading.

"What or who is on your mind right now?"

As for Rebecca, she was the kind of girl who often liked reading about horses and other assorted animals. In the past, Sylvia had quite often taken Rebecca to stables with her when she went riding. But not lately, due to certain things that'd happened in the area for a while now, for the obvious reasons, of course.

"Our sister, that's who."

Whether that would always remain the case was yet to be seen. But Rebecca was still really hoping that Sylvia would eventually be able to do that again in the future, just the same. Time would tell if that'd ever happen again for them both, of course.

"What about her?"

Rebecca, unlike either Martha or Sylvia, had black hair which she normally wore in a ponytail tied with a pink and navy blue hairbow near her scalp, whenever possible. Otherwise, she generally wore her roughly mid-back-length hair in a bun or in braids, if she could do so well enough at a certain time. If she had to, or wanted to, wear it completely unbound, though, she usually wore it in a somewhat wavy style, by the way.

"She seems to be more intent of late on being away from us than usual."

"Well, she is a junior in high school. I'm sure a lot of high school juniors don't spend a lot of time with their families, Martha."

"Are you thinking you might be like her when you're her age?"

"No, but I suspect that I might be working after school at that age, if the need arises, Martha. And what's wrong with being like her?"

"Nothing, as long as one isn't too intent on forgetting to spend time with those people who are closest to them in their lives, whenever possible."

"Have you thought that maybe she's possibly gotten a new job of some sort?"

"If that were true, don't you think she'd be making money from it?"

"Perhaps. At least if it's the kind of job that might pay money, of course. Perhaps she's not working on that kind of job, Martha. Maybe she's been working on a job that doesn't pay her anything at all."

"Then why do such a job, if you can't profit financially from it?"

"Maybe it pays in other ways that can't be measured in terms of money, if she has such a job. If she does have such a job, I have no idea how she might be paid for doing it, if at all."

"I miss the times we used to spend together, Rebecca." Rebecca began to brush out Martha's hair, at Martha's request.

"Well, Martha, so do I. But she's eventually going to be moving out of our house, I think. And she may be doing it sooner than you and I might like. When she goes to college, she might leave us to reside in a dormitory, or not, depending on where she might go to school. If she goes overseas, for instance, she'll have to move from here on at least a temporary basis. If she ever gets married, then she won't be staying here with us any longer."

"And what about you?"

"The same things might be true for me, when my time comes to leave the nest. And for Uly or you, when your times also come for you in your lives, for that matter."

Ulysses Wakefield currently had black hair worn in a near-crewcut style. He also was of rather moderate build for his age, and in above-average shape for boys of it. He was also somewhat interested in horses. But his current main interests were model cars and postage stamp collecting. Especially ones that were from the United States in both cases. In terms of model cars, that meant that he was currently quite interested in models of assorted American-made cars. Such as the '69 Dodge Charger that'd been made famous in a now-ended American television show called "The Dukes of Hazzard," in fact. That Dodge Charger was called "General Lee," after an American Confederate General from the American Civil War, by the way.

"And then who'll be with Mom and Dad, when we leave?"

"Nobody, unless they take in other people, or have more children. The latter isn't very likely, it seems to me. And I don't think they'd be wanting to take in others around here, in terms of the former. So they'll be an empty-nest couple again, I think, when we all leave."

"And what will that mean for us, if that's eventually the case for us here?"

"By then, we should be in college, or done with it, most ideally."

"I mean, in terms of our relationships with each other, Becky."

"I have no idea how our relationships will go after we start to leave this house, Martha. I realize you'd really like to be with Syl a lot in the future. But you should know that it's probably not going to be the case that she'll be spending as much time with you or any of the rest of us as she used to. She's growing up, and so are the rest of us. I mean among the four of us kids, of course. She's less than two years away from finishing high school. She can't be with us forever. Sylvia needs to have a life of her own, and maybe she's starting to get one, if she didn't have one before school started for us last month."

"Does this seem fair that she hasn't been with us as much as she used to be during a typical school year, Rebecca?"

"It may not seem that way, to you, at least. But it's apparently the way that things will have to be from now on for all of us. No matter how much we might all prefer otherwise."

"I don't think it's very fair, Becky."

"It may not be. But it is what it is."

"So what do you suggest I do?" Rebecca finished brushing out Martha's hair. And then Martha began working on Becky's hair as Becky now wanted her to work on it.

"Treasure every moment that you have with her to the best of your ability to do so, Martha. For you may not have very many from now on. At least while she's still with us, if I'm not too mistaken here."

"And after she leaves, then what?"

"Perhaps things will change to allow you to spend more time with each other in the future. However, I'd not expect that to happen at least until she finishes her schooling and begins her professional career, whatever it might prove to be, just so you know, Martha."

"So you think things might very well never be just like they were when we were all younger again, Becky?" Martha then began to braid Rebecca's hair, after first having brushed it out enough to suit them both here.

"That's a very distinct possibility. She also seems to be much more serious about things in her life of late. I don't know why, but it just seems to be the case for her here and now, Martha."

"And what do you think of that?"

"Well, I suppose, and I hope, that it's for the better, from what I can currently tell of her recent change in personality. She was periodically rather serious before, but she's become even more so of late, it seems to me here and now, Martha."

"I wonder why she's changed, if that's true."

"I don't know. But if she has, then it's her business. Not anyone else's, unless she chooses to make it so, of course, Martha."

"I hope she's not getting herself into any trouble, of course."

"So do I. But if she chooses to have secrets, that's her right, within logical enough reason, of course. If not, then that's her right as well. And we all still have to respect her privacy if and whenever possible in the future. Just like we've always done, Martha. She's done the same for us, for as long as I can remember, so we still have to do that, if and whenever possible."

The two of them talked for a little while longer, until Rebecca was satisfied enough with her hair at present, and had Martha stop working with it. By that time, Martha had put Becky's hair in two braids, and secured those braids with bands at both ends of each of them as needed.

Martha and Rebecca soon began working on their homework in their room. And they worked on it until their mother Esther called them for supper later on. They set their books aside, and went where necessary in Wakefield Castle to have their suppers with each other, their parents, and Ulysses, who was then wearing a simple shirt, jeans, and sneakers. At that time, the necessary place was the dining room, in fact.

The present Wakefields then had their suppers with each other, and parted not long afterward from each other as needed or desired for them all. They, in fact, all went to their respective bedrooms in rather short order, when they could then do so well enough. Including, of course, Becky and Martha. By the time that Sylvia finally returned home, Martha and Becky, for example, were already quite asleep again in their respective beds.

Meanwhile, as Rebecca and Martha were either spending time with each other or eating, Sylvia was either in transit somewhere between Wakefield Castle and Sweet Musicalisti, or she was spending time with Moonlight Serenade. Most likely, the latter, in fact. Not long after she got to Sweet Musicalisti, she saddled him up and rode him off its grounds.

Sylvia rode him for a while all over the area, even when she was Skyhorse. She patrolled for a while in the area with him. And they conversed at least a little bit more with each other about whatever people or things then came to mind for themselves. If not a lot more, in actual reality, for that matter.

While they were still patrolling, Isaiah suddenly flew toward them, and overtook them near the Flowers Gate. When Skyhorse brought Serenade into a nearby alley to where they were, Isaiah said, as soon as he could, "There are several more Arab terrorists to fight now, Skyhorse. It seems they are trying to take over a movie theater, and will soon take hostages. The police are trying to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, of course, while they're trying to resolve the situation peaceably. But the terrorists don't seem to want to listen to them. It seems like they want to wreak havoc. Kiena is inbound, but she'll probably need your help in dealing with them. I also think I saw Pilgrim starting to head that way, for some yet-unknown reason, while we're at it."

"How many more, perhaps, Isaiah?" asked Moonlight Serenade.

"From what I could gather, at least a dozen or so, if not more, you two. The police seem to think they might possibly be from Islamic Jihad, Hamas, or Hezbollah, if I'm not too mistaken here. They might even be connected to the terrorists that you fought earlier when you defended the mall against them."

"I see. Well, then, I suppose we might just have to fight them, if Kiena's on the way there, at least, if not also the Pilgrim," said Skyhorse.

They conversed only a little while longer with each other before exiting the required alley here. Isaiah flashed out of the area quite quickly, winging his way toward where he thought he might be able to meet up with Kiena a little later. Skyhorse and Serenade left that alley only when it might be safe enough for them to do so, of course. And then they set off for that theater as well, in very short order.

Some time later, at around 8:30 pm local time, Skyhorse, Moonlight Serenade, Pilgrim, Isaiah, and Renaissance met about a block away from where the terrorists were currently holed up in the movie theater. They briefly discussed the situation with each other as needed, so that they'd hopefully know what was going on better, during the course of the likely battle. Eventually, they felt they'd discussed their options as best as their current situation allowed them to do that here. And they soon took up the appropriate positions in and around the movie theater, as needed.

Ten minutes after parting from each other, they were in their chosen positions in and around the movie theater. Serenade and Isaiah stayed outside, while the others sneaked in and prepared to engage the terrorists when and if the need arose for them to do so here. They didn't have to wait long, in fact, before the terrorists began acting as expected. The terrorists began taking hostages, and threatening to blow up the theater. When that happened, Skyhorse realized, "These people must be insane! There are about a hundred or so others in the theater here, at least, if not more than that."

She prepared to act, just as soon as she could, in order to take out as many of the terrorists as possible, as safely as possible. But she still had to wait for them to make enough bad mistakes to allow her to do that well enough, for the obvious reasons, of course. Eventually, they did so, and were close enough to her to allow her to act as she then needed to here. She whipped out her sword, just as soon as she could do it safely enough, and began taking them out, one at a time. As she did so, her human allies began acting as well. They soon engaged those terrorists, and took out others. As several of the Arab terrorists tried to get away from where Skyhorse, Renaissance, and the Pilgrim were then fighting them, by trying to get out of the theater, they were all met by Moonlight Serenade and Isaiah.

Serenade and Isaiah then went to work on them all, as quickly and as safely as they could do so here. By the time that they were both done doing so, to the best of their current abilities to do so, not one single Arab terrorist who'd somehow made their ways out of the theater again was still alive. For they'd been taken out by the police, Serenade, or Isaiah, in whatever ways had then been necessary.

As for any or all of the terrorists still inside the theater, Skyhorse, Renaissance, and the Pilgrim eventually had knocked them all completely out of the fight. Either by killing them or by otherwise making it impossible for them to continue fighting against the Scouts and their human ally, in fact. By the time that the situation had been totally resolved, as needed, the bomb the terrorists had threatened to detonate inside the theater was defused, about a minute from when it would likely have exploded. And all but two or three terrorists they'd just engaged were dead or dying, and the other terrorists were dealt with as then necessary. With that being the case here, the police and required emergency personnel soon attended to the necessary people in the theater, of course. Not even one civilian was harmed in any permanent enough way in the theater during the foiled terrorist attack, in actual reality. Only the terrorists were harmed in such a way, and only because they all refused to behave in a civil enough manner, there. Much to their mutual detriments, by the way.

Ten minutes or so after the situation was resolved completely as it then had been, Skyhorse and her allies, whether human or not, left the scene as safely and as quickly as they could. And they did so before assorted media personnel could catch them well enough there in any way whatsoever, for that matter. After leaving the area of the theater behind again as needed, Skyhorse and Serenade resumed their current patrolling of the Jerusalem area with each other. When they resumed their current patrolling of that area, it was then just about 9:30 pm local time.

They both eventually returned to Sweet Musicalisti by 10:15 pm, with Sylvia having first powered out of her Sailor Scout state again, of course. By 10:45 pm, then, he'd been taken care of well enough by Sylvia as needed, with a little help from both Reuben and Timothy, if required here. She stayed with him a bit longer, just to be with him then, before she left him alone again. Sylvia then went to the necessary place elsewhere on the stable's complex, so as to get cleaned up and changed into other clothes again, for the obvious reasons. By 11:10, she was done getting cleaned up, et cetera, and she soon left the complex completely again.

She headed straight home again, just as safely and as quickly as she could, in her van. Stopping briefly at an ice cream shop, she got herself a milkshake and a sundae there. She also bought some ice cream for the rest of her family, for that matter. She had the fruit-covered sundae in that shop, and the chocolate milkshake on the way back to Wakefield Castle. Sylvia soon drove away from that ice cream shop, and then headed home for the rest of the night.

She arrived home just after 11:40 pm, and put the remaining ice cream that she'd just purchased in the Wakefields' refrigerator as needed. That done, she soon retired to her room for the rest of the night. She worked for a while on her homework, where necessary, before closing her books, and climbing into her bed again. She read and wrote in her journal for a little while, before turning off her light, and falling asleep. About five or so minutes later, at most, then, she was lost again in any of the countless lands of dreams. And dreaming more of long-ago times and places, for that matter. Even without actually realizing it, at least as of the current time, anyway.


	10. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

About three weeks or so later, after fighting at least seventeen more Jeddite-created monsters and five more foiled Arab terrorist attacks, Skyhorse and Renaissance were in the cavern with each other, Serenade, and Isaiah around 5:30 pm local time. The current date was October 25, 1990, and they were both trying to figure out how they could get to places in the area much quicker than they'd often been able to do before. They were trying to brainstorm for a while. But to date, they hadn't yet found a way or ways to make that possible.

Near where they were working with computers that they'd set up the week or two before, Isaiah was sitting on a perch that Kiena had earlier purchased from the same pet store that Sylvia had patronized the previous month. He was watching them work on two networked computers, trying to find ways to speed their response times for whenever trouble arose in the local area. And he was viewing a recording of their last battle against a Jeddite-created monster. Skyhorse and Renaissance had secretly placed several dozen security cameras all over the area, a week or two before, just after setting up the aforementioned computers well enough. And a few of them had then recorded the battle in its entirety. The resulting recording had been edited together from the tapes in each such camera with assistance from assorted equipment now in the cavern and its nearby nooks. Sylvia had edited it together with help from her allies as needed, of course.

As he watched that recording for the fifth time in the past day or two, he said, "Ren, stop the recording for a moment." Ren did so, and then he said, "You nearly got your head taken off by a swooping attack from this monster, Ren."

The monster had barely missed hitting Ren's neck with a swooping attack from a sword that'd had a considerably serrated blade. But she had ducked a split second earlier just below where it eventually passed over her head. She'd nearly had her head taken off, no thanks to a pair of lassos she was trying to avoid being snagged by at that time. Two other monsters had been battling with her. And at least five others had been fighting against Skyhorse, Pilgrim, Serenade, and Isaiah, at the same time during the battle. Ren had barely been able to avoid being snagged by the lassos. And because of that, she'd nearly had her head taken off as already stated.

Eventually, after battling a good while longer with all the assorted monsters they'd just been fighting, the Scouts and their allies had won the battle. But they hadn't won it very easily, just the same. They'd generally been secretly hurting for the last day or two since the battle had ended. They were only now beginning to feel better after that battle, in fact.

"Well, Isaiah, I was trying to avoid being snagged by two lassos at the same time. You were a considerable distance away from me at that time, if I remember correctly enough."

"Maybe so, Ren. But you can't let them nearly take your head off. If they were to take your head off, then you could no longer serve as a Scout, or be anything else in your mortal life. This, of course, is for all the obvious reasons."

"Understood. But humans are usually much bigger than most animals are, I'm sure. You may be able to do things we can't, and vice versa. If I might have been your size, perhaps my head wouldn't have been in so much danger. But I'm not. And so therefore, there are going to be certain risks that go with being human. You've never been human, I believe. So it might be hard for you to understand well enough what it's like to be human. You're a bird, and you don't know what it's like to be human. And you most likely never will. Unless you somehow become human for a long enough time, at least, if ever, of course."

"Maybe not, but most humans can't fly unaided, if I'm not too mistaken here."

"True enough, Isaiah. But that's just fine with me, if that's the way that God wishes things for me to be, normally, in my life. I may never be able to fly just like you, at least not in this life. But that's okay with me, just the same."

As they were working on their computers, and discussing recent events with their animal allies, a potential trouble alert suddenly sounded on another nearby computer. It was another possible disturbance near the restaurant/arcade that Kiena and Sylvia had met each other at on September 21, in fact. Ten more Jeddite-created monsters were there, waiting to give the Scouts trouble, even though they'd not actually shown themselves to be monsters yet.

They left the cavern in very short order, with Ren in her vehicle, and Sky on Serenade. Isaiah flew into Ren's vehicle, and sat on one of the seats there to the best of his current ability to do so. And they were all heading toward the site of the disturbance moments later. On the way out of the cavern's immediate area, they shrouded it again as best as they could do so here, for the obvious reasons, of course.

They arrived near there about fifteen or so minutes after leaving the cavern's area behind again. And both Scouts briefly scoped out the situation for a little while, before they'd have to show themselves again as Scouts. Eventually, they felt they'd done so well enough to suit them both, and they split up, along with their animal allies, to take separate positions in the area as they saw fit to. When they were ready to fight again, they notified each other as secretly as they could here. After Sky felt they were ready enough to fight again, she told Ren to show as she did the same. As for Isaiah and Serenade, she had them wait to engage monsters for about another two or three minutes, for the obvious reasons.

Sailors Skyhorse and Renaissance made brief speeches before beginning to fight assorted monsters in the area, once they'd shown themselves well enough at the current time. For about the next twenty minutes or so, then, they battled those monsters, taking a few hits of assorted kinds as they did so. Pilgrim showed up about thirty minutes or so after they began fighting their enemies, and he went right to work with his assorted items as he saw fit to, or had to, here. By the time he finally showed, Isaiah and Serenade were wreaking havoc on those monsters as well to the best of their current abilities to do that here.

While the Scouts and their allies were then fighting assorted monsters, one of them made a great leap toward a girl that neither Scout nor their allies were currently able to defend. And they grabbed up that girl, before Sky or her allies could stop them from doing so. The monster began trying to put the girl in its mouth, but the girl was too large for their mouth here, evidently.

Suddenly, without warning, a flaming tree branch of some sort appeared in the right hand of the girl in question. And a strange symbol appeared on her forehead just as suddenly. It was a symbol that had a sword pointing straight up and with flames surrounding it under a gold halo. The girl's symbol shone quite brightly, and shone so brightly, that the monster then holding her had to drop her in order to see well enough at the current time.

The girl dropped to the nearby ground. And she almost immediately tossed the flaming tree branch above her head, calling out "Trinity Crystal Power!" as she did so, just after Isaiah suddenly buzzed her and told her the necessary words to say here. She called that phrase out just after climbing up on top of a rock sufficiently near her, in fact. When the fireball reached a level of about ten feet or so above her head, a pillar of fire suddenly surrounded her. As it did so, the monsters still fighting the Scouts and their allies were drawn to look at the pillar, not knowing what to expect, of course. And so were the Scouts and their allies, for that matter.

Inside the pillar, then, the unknown girl was transforming into her new Scout state for the first time in her life. A gold tiara with a purple stone at its base appeared on her forehead just under her hairline, with the stone being positioned in the exact same place her symbol had just appeared in. She had just a few fringes of black hair covering either end of that tiara, when it then appeared where it needed to appear here. Her eyes were brown. An orange choker soon appeared around her neck. Her neckerchief was purple with two white stripes of piping on it. Her now-appearing uniform's shoulders were orange rings, and they were quite similar to the shoulders for both Skyhorse and Renaissance's Scout uniforms. At the base of the neckerchief, and positioned just above the knot, where needed, in it, a purple bow and orange locket were both present. Her uniform's blouse was mostly white, as well. Her mostly orange skirt was roughly the same length as the skirts for Ren and Sky's uniforms, for that matter, with two purple stripes near the hem of it. A purple bow was also positioned just above the small of her back, if not in it. Her uniform's belt was white, by the way. As were her elbow-length gloves, appearing just as a new sword then materialized in her right hand here. Her armbands were purple, and they were quite similar to the rings on her shoulders. Her knee-length boots were orange with purple v-like trimming on them where possible. And her boots had her new symbol present on them periodically trimmed in white or gold, in fact.

When her Scout uniform finished materializing around her, the pillar of fire completely disappeared, revealing her standing on top of the same rock she'd been on when she'd called out her new transformation phrase. She said, "I am Sailor Trinity, a servant of the Most High. By the powers given me by God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, I shall glorify the Most High by my service as a Scout, to the best of my ability to do so. With Their help, I shall aid the innocent in this world against monsters such as you, if and whenever possible!" She said a few other things as well here, but those were the most important things she said at the current time.

After she stopped speaking, the monsters began charging at her as best and as often as they could do so here. But they soon fell under her blade or other improvised weapons, struck down by her with them. She even toasted a few of them with the same flaming tree branch that she'd tossed above her head minutes before.

Eventually, only a few more monsters remained in the fight, and each of the still-present Scouts took out one of them. Pilgrim, Serenade, and Isaiah had earlier left, just as soon as they could do so well enough at the current time. The last monster to fall was eventually taken out by Skyhorse. And she killed them as she'd previously killed all the other monsters she'd actually had to destroy since her very first battle. After she did that, and after all the necessary people whose bodies had been taken over had been restored as needed, the Scouts soon left the area where the disturbance had taken place. That was if they could do so well enough, of course. Including the newest one, for that matter.

They all got sufficiently out of the area just before the local media arrived at the location of the battle, quite fortunately enough for them. However, they couldn't actually do it well enough before the police and other emergency personnel did. It took them all just about five minutes, more or less, for them to avoid being seen by those authorities. But they still were somehow able to do so, just the same. By the time they left, it was then almost 7 pm local time.

The police and emergency personnel attended to the situation the Scouts and their allies had just left them with to the best of their current abilities to do so, of course. After the inevitable media personnel showed up, the authorities told them whatever they could at the current time, but not everything, for the obvious reasons.

Meanwhile, Jeddite was again quite upset, after the Scouts and their allies had vanquished plenty more of his monsters, quite naturally enough. As he headed back to his workshop, in full Arabic-style disguise, Valthusa suddenly materialized in an alley near him. She beckoned him over just as soon as she got his attention well enough. When they had returned to his workshop just as quickly as she'd materialized near him, he asked her, "What's the purpose of this visit, Valthusa?"

"I come to warn you that Queen Beryl is looking for a new leader for her attempts to free Metallia from her prison. The early money's seeming to be on Nephlyte, from what I've been hearing. She's quite upset that you've been unable to get a lot of energy gathered for our attempts to free Metallia from the bonds that Serenity put on her about a millennium ago."

"And so what?" He asked this as she began rubbing his back.

"She's considering dooming you to Eternal Sleep, Jeddite. And when she hears another Scout has appeared in this area, that might not help your case very much, if at all."

"How was I to know that another Sailor Scout would appear all of a sudden?"

"I suppose that can't always be predicted in a completely accurate nature, Jeddite. But Beryl is getting more upset with you as time passes, due to the loss of more monsters. And you haven't really been bringing a lot of energy together for us with your various monsters, it seems. Beware of Queen Beryl, for she's getting rather angry with your record of failures over the last month or so. Nephlyte is angling to take over for you, and so are plenty of others in the Negaverse. It may only be a matter of time before Beryl summons you to her presence to demand answers. I'm on your side here, but I must also warn you that things are getting more serious for you and those who still support you in the Negaverse." Valthusa stopped rubbing his back, and picked up a goblet full of red wine. She began sipping from it.

"I understand. But there's got to be something I can do to get rid of these pests that have been taking out monsters and terrorists quite often since I released Morga last month."

"Fortunately for you, it seems that Serenity's heir has not yet appeared. If she appears while you are still leading our efforts, and you fail, Beryl might drop you very quickly indeed, I think. We don't know if she will appear, and if so, who she'll be. But we suspect that she'll eventually appear someday. No matter who she might be."

"And if she does, then what?"

"We must eliminate her and try to gain the Imperium Silver Crystal, if at all possible, of course, Jeddite."

The two of them talked for a while longer with each other, before Valthusa finished drinking from the goblet of wine that she'd been holding. With that done, she soon departed from Jeddite's presence, so that he could get back to work on making more monsters to oppose the three Scouts that'd now appeared in the Jerusalem area, of course.

The following day, Sylvia unexpectedly encountered Rolando, his family, and several other people at the restaurant/arcade that she and others had defended the day before. Those other people included Kiena and one other person who Sylvia had most likely not yet met in a civilian state. If not more than one, in fact. It was now just after 5:30 pm local time.

That certain other person who Sylvia had most likely not yet met in a civilian state was named Mary Josephus. Mary Josephus was a girl with straight black hair that normally fell to her waist whenever it was completely unbound. Also there were some short black fringe-like bangs hanging down just a little a bit over her forehead. She was currently wearing a purple sweater with orange piping near its cuffs. Also, she was wearing a mostly purple knee-length skirt with orange piping near its hem. A pair of black pumps were on her feet as well.

Mary Josephus was about 5'5" and 125 pounds. She was still 13, but she was now less than two months from her next birthday. She was Caucasian, and she had both parents and a brother. However, the names of her parents and brother were not the same as the names of her parents and brother from the time of the Silver Millennium. She had been present at the time of the Moon Kingdom's end, though she didn't yet realize that. Queen Serenity had saved her for the future when she'd used her Crystal and her Wand together to trap the Negaverse and save as many sentients as possible from the Moon Kingdom.

Mary Josephus was now in 9th grade, and she also attended DBJHS, though Sylvia didn't yet know that. Her favorite subjects in school generally had to do with foreign languages and clothes-related classes. She hoped to be a well-known, though not necessarily, famous clothes designer, maker, and/or model in the future, if at all possible. Though if she couldn't, she'd not mind working with things that had to do with assorted foreign languages, for that matter.

When Sylvia encountered Rolando and his family, she asked Rolando, "What's going on here, Rolando?"

"It's my father's birthday. They're 47 years old now, as of today. And we're here to help them celebrate it, Sylvia."

"I see. And are these others your siblings?"

"Yes, Sylvia, they are." He soon introduced her to his siblings, just as soon as he could do so well enough. They all pleasantly conversed with each other for a few moments apiece, before Sylvia went to another part of the restaurant/arcade.

When she got there, she encountered Kiena and Mary playing two different arcade games there. Kiena she recognized immediately, of course. Mary, though, she didn't, for she'd not yet met her well enough in a civilian state, in fact.

Sylvia soon began playing another machine, and this one was a pinball game. She racked up about 150,000 points on it before people started watching her. Including, by the way, Mary and Kiena. Mary and Kiena began watching her as she passed the 200,000-point level. Sylvia continued playing, even while earning several extra balls whenever possible. By the time she lost her first ball, she'd racked up 756,800 points. With her next ball, she earned another 440,200 points. Her third ball bumped her total up to about 1,850,200 points. Her first extra ball got her to 2,640,200 or so points. Her second extra ball got her to about 3.2 million points, and her eight remaining extra balls got her to 4,835,640 points, before she finally ran out of balls to play. The entire game of pinball took her about 88 minutes or so to play, often one-handed, in fact. When she ran out of balls, she marked her position in the top 5 scores on that machine by putting her initials into the game.

Mary suddenly said, "Please let me try, SLW." So Sylvia stepped aside, and let Mary play. Mary put in the necessary currency, and the game started. By the time Mary lost her first ball, she was nearly to 800,000 points. Her second ball got her to about 1.4 million points. Her third ball got her to about 2.2 million points. Her first extra ball got her to about 2.8 million points, and five other extra balls got her to 4,934,600 points, nearly 100,000 points more than Sylvia's score, before the game ended. Mary had made the game last about ten or so minutes shorter than Sylvia's game, in fact.

"MCJ" soon joined "SLW" in the machine's top 5 scores. After Mary put her initials in the game, Sylvia eventually came up to her, and asked her, "What do those initials stand for, if I may ask you this, girl?" She only asked her this here when they were sufficiently alone with each other, for the obvious reasons, of course.

"Mary Catherine Josephus. What does SLW stand for?"

"Sylvia Lucille Wakefield." Sylvia soon sat down and ordered some pizza for herself, at least, if not also for Mary. Mary sat down across from Sylvia, at Sylvia's table, and ordered some pizza for herself as well. A waitress took their orders, and then departed to attend to them.

"Have we met somewhere before?"

"I don't think so. Why do you ask?"

"For some reason, you seem at least a little familiar to me. Like we might have even happened to know each other some time ago, if I'm not too mistaken here, in fact."

"I don't think we've ever met. Though I could be wrong about that."

"Didn't I see you at the battle yesterday?"

"What battle was that?" Sylvia took a sip of some water from a glass currently just in front of her, by the way.

"There was a battle around here yesterday, and I think I saw at least one girl who looked a lot like you do now. I'm not quite sure of that here, though."

"Why's that?"

"Because it was rather hectic there, in fact. Believe it or not, I was one of the people caught up in it. A monster tried to eat me, it seems to me, from what I can recall of that battle well enough." Mary briefly looked at a picture on the wall above and behind Sylvia's head, as she said that here. It was a picture of a garden scene with a river running through that garden.

"Oh, and what happened after that?"

"A few Sailor Scouts showed up, and so did two animals and a guy in some sort of tuxedo, I believe. After the monster tried to eat me, I don't remember much, if anything else, about the battle in question here, for at least a little while, if not a long while."

Mary and Sylvia conversed for a while with each other, as they waited for the waitress to return with their orders. While they were doing that, Kiena found Sylvia, and said, "There you are, Sylvia. I wonder if you'd be interested in playing a game of pool with me now."

"No, I don't think so, Kiena. I'm not in the mood to do so, and besides, Mary and I have ordered some food and drinks which haven't gotten here yet. We're getting to know each other at least a little bit. If you'd care to join us, I'm sure that Mary here wouldn't mind getting to know you at least a little bit as well."

"Fine, Sylvia. I'll join you. Later, though, we'll have to attend to other things here, of course, for the obvious reasons."

"Understood. So noted." Kiena nodded, and joined Mary and Sylvia at their current table in the restaurant. A few minutes after she did so, Mary and Sylvia's orders came. And they began to consume the food and drinks they'd just ordered. And they did so with a little help from Kiena, who'd eventually decided to try to help them put away that food and drink, in a manner of speaking. By the time all that food and those drinks were completely consumed, then, Kiena knew as much about Mary as Sylvia did. And Mary then knew as much about Sylvia and Kiena as she needed to know at that particular time. At least in terms of their respective civilian states, of course. Kiena and Sylvia didn't yet know that Mary was Sailor Trinity, and Mary didn't yet know she was either. But that would eventually change, in time, when situations forced them to learn that well enough.

Eventually, it got near 9:30 pm or so local time. Rolando was still with his family, and Sylvia was still with Kiena and Mary, by that time. Kiena asked, "Mary, do you like dancing?"

"Not very much. I understand some people might like it, at least a little bit, but I don't generally like it. Why do you ask?" Mary wrinkled up her nose as she asked Kiena that.

"I like dancing quite a bit in whatever form I might do it in, Mary."

"I see, Kiena. That's not really my thing, though." Mary brushed a bit of hair back that'd just fallen briefly in front of her brown eyes.

"What is your thing, or are your things, then, Mary?" asked Kiena, as her locket suddenly began to beep very quietly.

"I mainly go for foreign languages or things related to fashion, whenever possible, Kiena."

Sylvia's locket started to beep as well, seconds later, just as quietly as Kiena's had done. When Mary heard those beeps from both Kiena and Sylvia's lockets, she asked, "Sylvia, what's going on?"

"It seems we're being paged by our mothers, if we're not too mistaken here. We'll have to pick this up later, if and whenever possible." Sylvia and Kiena then put some money down for the food and drinks that they'd just consumed along with Mary, and left the restaurant/arcade just as quickly and as safely as they could. They soon ducked into a nearby alley, just as soon as they could do so well enough and safely enough. When it was safe enough for them to do so, they powered up again, and became Skyhorse and Renaissance, respectively.

Sky and Ren then set off for whatever location they were drawn to by the beeps from their locket, by starting up their own vehicles and driving off as needed. On the way there, they were eventually joined by Moonlight Serenade and Isaiah, after they'd each left their respective current lodgings without any trouble at all. Not even Serenade, for it was now a standing order from both Mr. and Mrs. Sherman that nobody try to stop Serenade from leaving Sweet Musicalisti's grounds by himself, if and whenever he might ever want to do that. Sylvia had recently requested that favor from Jonah and Danielle. And they'd seen fit to honor her request of that nature. So now it was a standing order that was most certainly to be followed at all times by anyone working on Sweet Musicalisti's grounds. No matter what.

As soon as Serenade came to where Skyhorse and Renaissance now were, both girls soon sprang onto his back, with Skyhorse in the front. But only after first parking their respective vehicles as needed, wherever they could do so safely enough, of course. Renaissance then sat behind her, and put her arms around Skyhorse's abdomen, so that she might not fall off Serenade as easy as she might if she didn't do so. As the three of them headed toward wherever their lockets were leading then, Isaiah also flew above them, so as to be able to see farther than they could due to being higher off the ground than they were. He flew directly over Serenade, Sky, and Ren. And due to his current altitude of about 2,400 feet above the surrounding terrain, he could see at least twice as far ahead of them than they could, if not even farther than that. He saw the disturbance before they did, and told them the nature of it. After they learned the nature of it, they soon came to a place near that disturbance, and prepared to engage the causers of it.

They soon learned several more Arab terrorists were trying to break into a bank and assorted nearby city-run buildings. These terrorists were from Hamas, mainly, though they didn't yet know that well enough. Several soldiers and law enforcement officials were trying to hold them off, but had already suffered some casualties while doing so. Several soldiers and police officers were down on the ground, having been hit by assorted weapons fire from the terrorists. It was rather difficult for the Scouts and their animal allies to tell if any of the soldiers or police officers had been killed or nearly so at the current time. For they were still at least half a block, if not more, away from the nearest terrorist, soldier, or police officer, as they scoped out the current situation as best as they could at the present time.

Eventually, Sky had seen enough, and had come up with a plan on how to deal with the disturbance. She soon sent Isaiah one direction. Serenade another. And Ren a third. As for her, she went in a fourth direction. And all four of them took up positions as safely as they could where she'd chosen to have them take those positions.

When everyone was in position, as she'd wanted them to be, she had them act as she'd just instructed them to. Moments later, then, she showed herself as Skyhorse where needed. And then the others did so, when they needed to, according to the plan that she'd just come up with a little while before.

The terrorists soon concentrated their full attentions on Skyhorse and her allies. Which then bought the Israelite Defense Force personnel and the police officers time to rest briefly, and attend to their wounded, et cetera, for the obvious reasons. As they did so, they periodically watched the Scouts and their allies engage the terrorists, whenever possible.

Skyhorse and her allies wasted very little time or actions in dealing with the terrorists as needed. Even after more terrorists showed up to oppose them, that was still the case, in fact. Ten minutes or so into the battle between Skyhorse's group and the terrorists, Pilgrim and Trinity showed up. They showed up just in time to trash two or three vans full of assorted Arab terrorists who were coming to try to reinforce their fellow Arabs. Those vans crashed into each other, at least for the most part, if not entirely, after Trinity had shot out their tires with assorted improvised weapons she'd made out of nails, et cetera. The vans soon blew up when they collided severely enough with each other, permanently taking out several terrorists when they did so. Other terrorists were able to get far enough away from them before those vans did so. They still were dropped by assorted attacks from not only the Scouts and their allies, but also several soldiers and police officers, once they'd rejoined the battle currently in progress.

Eventually, by 10:30 pm or so, local time, the last few terrorists were knocked out of the fight as needed. Not all of them were killed, for all the obvious reasons. But at least one of them was, when they couldn't withstand attacks from at least eight different directions at the same time. Most of them from directions then pertaining to the Scouts or their allies, quite possibly.

After the last terrorists were knocked out of the fight as needed, the Scouts and their allies left the scene just as safely, and as quickly, as they could here, of course. They did that while the police and soldiers then dealt with the terrorists as the current situation required them to do that here, by the way. And they did that before the media personnel got to the scene, for all the obvious reasons, as well.

A while after doing that, the Scouts powered down, and their allies departed from each other as soon as they could do so well enough. Serenade went back to Sweet Musicalisti's grounds, while Isaiah went back to Kiena's house. Pilgrim, however, returned to his family back in the restaurant. Before he got there, he powered down without knowing it, and without anyone else seeing or hearing him, at least, do so, and became just Rolando Volois again.

Sylvia and Kiena returned to their vehicles again, and they either went home or went to Sweet Musicalisti as the need or desire for them to do so struck them both now. Kiena went home. Sylvia went back to Sweet Musicalisti in order to attend to Serenade as might now be necessary. As for Mary, she returned to the restaurant/arcade briefly, so as to make sure she didn't leave anything there that anyone else might have found and left with. She hadn't. So she left the restaurant/arcade again, and went two or three blocks, more or less, from it to an apartment building in which she and her family now lived.

Mary was home by 11 pm local time. And she soon went to bed, not encountering her parents or her brother before doing so. For they were already all in their beds, and quite soundly asleep in them.

As for Kiena, she arrived home at about 11:05 pm, and went to her room in very short order, after getting herself a bit of a bedtime snack. Her parents and siblings were also asleep, just like Mary's parents and brother had been, in fact. She worked on her homework for a while, before retiring to her bed, and falling asleep within ten minutes after doing that.

Sylvia stopped at Sweet Musicalisti for about an hour, once she got there. During which time she attended to Serenade as needed, and then to herself, of course. It didn't take her too long to attend to him here. For Reuben and Timothy had already worked with him for at least a little while when he'd eventually returned to the stable complex after the battle. They both were just about halfway done with taking care of him by the time she was finally able to take over his care well enough here, in fact. She thanked them for their assistance with him, and even let them continue to work on him while she did the same, as well.

She eventually left the stable complex behind again around 12:15 in the morning of October 27, 1990. Sylvia headed straight home after leaving it. And she arrived home by 12:30, for the roads were quite empty, for once, between Sweet Musicalisti and Wakefield Castle's immediate areas. She was in bed by 12:45, and quite soundly asleep by 1, lost in even more dreams of the past, in fact.


	11. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

The following Tuesday night, Jeddite was finishing up work on at least one more set, if not more than one more set, of monsters, just as carefully as he could here. For he was hoping to release them all the following day, when he eventually got the chance or chances to do so well enough. He'd decided to create them with the significant help of some equipment he'd secretly stolen from assorted corporate buildings since Skyhorse's last battle with many Arab terrorists four nights before. Jeddite had actually sneaked into assorted Jerusalem-area corporate buildings for the past two or so days. He'd then done so by secretly teleporting into them, by the way. And he'd stolen some equipment from them periodically. He'd then used them to create all of the necessary monsters, and their applicable cubes, of course.

As he was still finishing up that work on them, Valthusa suddenly teleported into his Jerusalem-area base of operations in an isolated part of The Dome of the Rock. When he realized this, he asked her, just as soon as he was sure it was safe enough, "What's the matter?"

"I have a message from Queen Beryl, Jeddite. She says that if you don't eliminate the Scouts the next time you release your monsters, she will depose you, and remove you from the mission you're on right now. And you will be terminated, in a manner of speaking, just like I said earlier, during our last meeting with each other. You will be forced to answer for your failures against the Scouts, and face the consequences of said failures, according to her. Then she will put Nephlyte in charge of the mission, once you're removed from the battle, it seems. Supposing, of course, that you get beaten this next time, that is."

"I have one more chance to beat the Scouts?"

"Yes, it seems so. Unfortunately, we who are supporting you currently will be unable to save you from that fate if you don't take out all the Scouts and their pesky allies, we believe, Jeddite. Even if we might actually prefer you to stay in charge of things here, that might very well be the case here."

"And if it is, will there be any future hope that I might be able to get out of Eternal Sleep, after she might put me in it?"

"I really don't know. But I don't think so, just so you know."

For a while longer, then, the two Negaversers conversed with each other and did whatever came to mind for each of them. Eventually, though, Valthusa had to depart from his presence again, of course. Before she left, she wished him complete success against the Scouts and their pesky allies, for the obvious reasons, though.

Little did either of them know that Jeddite's latest plan wouldn't succeed, at least not yet. But they'd eventually learn that in the very near future, after another one of his plans to gain sufficient amounts of energy for the Negaverse was dusted completely by the Scouts and their allies, for that matter. Just not immediately would they know that, of course.

Wednesday afternoon, right after school, Sylvia, Kiena, and Mary found themselves just outside the school's main entrance, talking with each other about their plans for the evening. They had often encountered each other over the past few days, in fact. The evening before, Mary had finally realized that she was also Sailor Trinity. And she realized it just before Kiena and Sylvia did so, for that matter.

She realized it when she encountered them while Sky and Ren were patrolling together in the local area. When she realized it, she then powered up and joined them on their current patrol shortly thereafter. After the three of them finished patrolling with each other, Sylvia eventually bought a suitably-colored and suitably-outfitted bicycle for Mary to use as needed in the future, plus the necessary license or licenses for that bicycle, of course.

Mary hadn't yet been to the cavern, but that'd happen when the three of them were able to get there well enough with each other in the future. Mary still wasn't old enough yet to have a driver's license, being only 13 at the current time. But in time, if she somehow managed to live long enough in her life, she might be able to have one in the future.

Mary said, "I was actually planning on going to a fashion show later on this very evening with my mother, Kiena and Sylvia. Not doing some riding or anything else, unless we were to go out to eat, of course."

"I see," said Sylvia. "You're hoping to see what the big fashion designers might be coming out with in the near future, if at all possible, right?"

"If I can, of course I'd like to, Sylvia."

They conversed just a bit longer with each other before starting to split when Mary walked off the school grounds toward her family's apartment building elsewhere in the city. But they didn't part before Sylvia secretly showed Mary how to turn her locket on so that it could track possible Scout-related activity. Among other things she secretly showed her before Mary parted from Sylvia and Kiena here, in fact. Sylvia and Kiena watched Mary leave the school grounds briefly, before heading toward their respective vehicles elsewhere on them. A few minutes later, for both of them, and they were both off the school's grounds as well.

They each stopped at their own families' residences, as appropriate for them both. Kiena stayed longer at her family's residence than Sylvia did. For Sylvia stayed there only long enough to get herself some food and drink for herself, and change her clothes, basically. While Kiena decided to work on her current symphony for a while in her room.

After Sylvia got herself some food and drink to have that evening, and changed her clothes from her current school uniform to more casual clothes, she got herself a complete change of other clothes. She did that here so that she'd have something to wear after she rode Serenade for a while. This, of course, was for all the obvious reasons.

She was gone from Wakefield Castle again by 4 pm, with all the necessary things with her again. Whether or not they were in her subspace pocket of sorts, in fact. When her sister Rebecca asked her where she was going, Sylvia said, "I'm going out for another ride with Serenade, Becky. I have no idea just when I might be back home tonight."

"Okay, Sylvia. Be careful. It seems that many terrorists have begun hunting for people and animals that seem to look like the Scouts and their allies that have been showing up around this area the last month or two, just so you know."

"So noted. I'll be as careful as I can, of course. But I'm not afraid of them, Rebecca. They'll get their just punishments if and whenever the need arises for them to, I'm sure."

"If you see Skyhorse or Renaissance, please let them know that assorted terrorist organizations have just put bounties on their heads and the heads of their allies, if you can."

"What do you mean?"

"Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad, for example, have put out bounties on them for at least a combined average of 100,000 or so American Dollars, if not more than that. For Skyhorse, they're offering at least a half million units of such currency for information leading to her capture or assassination, if I'm not too mistaken here, in fact. It seems that she's been quite dangerous to them and their cause of late, ever since she first tangled with them."

"I see, Becky. Of course I'll let the necessary people know, just as soon as I can, if I happen to meet up with them well enough for a long enough period of time."

"Good. Take care, and God bless, and all that, Sylvia."

Then Sylvia left Wakefield Castle behind again, and went to Sweet Musicalisti here, as was now quite usual for her in her life. A little while after getting there, she and Serenade were off the required grounds, and patrolling all over the local area. They patrolled for a while before Sylvia suddenly felt the need to power up.

As soon as she could do so well enough, and safely enough, she then did so. She soon detected a potential disturbance that a set of Jeddite's monsters might be about to cause. When she paged the other Scouts to let them know about that, they soon told her, "Skyhorse, two more potential disturbances are developing at the same time as the one you seem to have detected. We might not be able to stop them all at the same time."

"Please tell me where your potential disturbances are, girls," interjected Serenade, all of a sudden, without any warning. Ren and Trinity did so. He mentally triangulated the location of those potential disturbances, and then said, "They're going to make their last stand at the nearby International Airport, it seems. Trinity and Renaissance, deal with your potential disturbances as best as you can, and then meet us at the nearby International Airport as soon as you can. Isaiah, go with Renaissance, and help her out as much as possible. I'll do the same with Skyhorse, at least until the Pilgrim can show up, if I can."

"What about me, then, Serenade?" asked Trinity.

"You'll have to handle things as best as you can at the present time. Unfortunately, we don't yet have any other Scouts available to help you out here well enough, so you'll have to fight as best as you can alone. At least until I can get to you, or until you defeat those monsters, of course. May God protect you perfectly if you have to fight, Trinity. After you deal with the monsters that you'll have to fight, head as quickly as you can and as safely as you can for the airport, okay?"

"Understood, Serenade. Will do, if and whenever possible, of course." Seconds later, then, all the Scouts signed off. And they all began preparing to engage at least one set of monsters apiece, if not more than one apiece, wherever they might have to do that here.

A little while later, sometime around 5 pm or so local time, each of the Scouts were in the necessary places where they might have to fight against assorted monsters of Jeddite's creation. When they were there, they very briefly let each of their fellow Scouts know that, and waited for the proper times to show themselves in those very same places.

When the need arose for them to show themselves in those places, they did so. For the obvious reasons, they made very short and very direct speeches, before they began fighting each set of monsters as needed.

Skyhorse and Serenade had soon found themselves opposing about four dozen monsters of assorted sizes, shapes, and appearances. For most of the next hour or two, then, they fought those monsters. And they both took them out periodically with their weapons and anything else they could fight them with at that time. No matter what it was. Eventually, though, as expected, the Pilgrim showed up near them both, and fought alongside Skyhorse against the remaining monsters near enough to where she and Serenade now were. Thereby allowing Serenade to leave the scene in order to try to help out Sailor Trinity with her own still-raging battle against at least another twenty or so more of Jeddite's created monsters, of course.

It took until about 6:50 pm local time for Skyhorse and the Pilgrim to finish off the remaining monsters in their current location as needed. With that done, they then began running with each other as quickly as they could to another location closer to the International Airport where Jeddite was evidently planning to make his last stand against the Scouts. After about ten or fifteen minutes more of running to that next battle location, they arrived in that place, and engaged another set of monsters apparently numbering thirty or so, more or less. To eliminate them all quite completely took Skyhorse and the Pilgrim until about 7:25 pm local time, more or less. When they eliminated those monsters as well, they headed straight for the airport, not detecting any more monsters they'd have to fight on the way there, in fact. They had both taken some hits for themselves in both engagements. Most of those hits having been ones that she periodically had taken before he'd joined her part of the battle, of course.

They both arrived at the airport on foot sometime around 7:35 or so, local time. And they were very glad to see that their allies had somehow managed to survive battling against at least several hundred, if not at least a thousand, monsters between them all in several engagements apiece. But Ren and the others had all taken at least a few hits apiece in the process of fighting monsters in those same engagements, as well, for the obvious reasons, of course.

When they got to the airport, and made their ways to one of its runways there, Jeddite suddenly materialized in front of them with at least a few hundred more monsters that he'd created since the entire battle had begun. When they all asked who he was, he said, "My name is Jeddite. I serve the Negaverse. Prepare to meet your doom, Sailor Scouts and friends!"

"Are you the one who's been releasing all these monsters in the area?" asked Skyhorse.

"As a matter of fact, I am. And I will destroy you pesky Scouts and your allies!"

"Not likely! Prepare to die, yourself, and prepare to meet your doom!" replied Skyhorse.

"If I don't beat you, I'm likely going to meet my doom, by the hands of Queen Beryl! So I must defeat you!"

"God will give us the victory! You shall not destroy us!" shouted Renaissance.

"We destroyed the Moon Kingdom long ago. And we will destroy your world, Satan willing, eventually."

"Never will your foul Negaverse destroy Earth, for God will never allow it," said Trinity.

"Prepare to be terminated, you pests! Monsters, attack!"

Seconds later, all the monsters who were then present began attacking the Scouts and their allies. Led by General Jeddite, of course. It wasn't a very easy fight for the Scouts and their allies to fight, in fact. But they still fought it here, for all the obvious reasons. Periodically, even while each of them took some more hits to themselves, they all still took out monsters as best as they could, and whenever they could. By 8:55 pm local time, they already had taken out about 700 monsters of assorted sizes and appearances, more or less. But they still had at least another hundred or so to deal with. Not to mention Jeddite, as well.

It took them all about another half an hour or so to eliminate the rest of Jeddite's monsters, before they were finally alone with him, among the ashes, et cetera, of those monsters. And Jeddite began running away from them. While he was doing so, they pursued him quite intent on ridding the world of him. But he slipped away from them before they could catch him, by slipping into a nearby hangar's restroom area without them seeing where he had gone. He began to teleport back to his base in the Jerusalem area, but before he could get there, he was diverted, because Beryl had located him, and grabbed him up before he could keep her from doing so.

Jeddite soon found himself rather unexpectedly materializing in front of Queen Beryl and her throne in the Negaverse. He quite earnestly begged for mercy and more chances against the Scouts from her, but she was totally unwilling to listen to him. So she punished him by putting him in a crystal of some sort and sentencing him to Eternal Sleep in that crystal.

After she did that, she soon said, "Nephlyte, you are now in charge of Jeddite's former mission. See that you do not fail us like he did against the Scouts and their allies. We must release Metallia, so that we can conquer or destroy this world as the need arises in the future."

"I will endeavor to eliminate the pests that seek to keep us from doing what we need to do here, of course, Queen Beryl."

"Leave me now, and begin preparing for your first battle against those infernal Scouts."

"As you wish. If I might make a suggestion, before I start work on my first monster, though, Queen Beryl?"

"Yes, I'm listening."

"I suggest we start trying to create Scouts of our own to fight the Scouts that are giving us problems, if and whenever possible."

"That might be worth looking into. In the meantime, begin preparing monsters to fight against our enemies, Nephlyte."

"Right away, then, Queen Beryl." Negaverse General Nephlyte then teleported away, and began searching for a suitable enough place to work out of in the Jerusalem local area. He chose not to work out of the exact same place in it that Jeddite had worked out of, in fact. But he still eventually stole all of Jeddite's notes, equipment, and other items that he was actually able to get his hands on from there. Valthusa most definitely tried to prevent him from doing so at all, while Jeddite was still meeting with Beryl. But she was unable to do so completely, before Nephlyte soon destroyed her all by himself. She kept him from getting at least some things of Jeddite's, but not most of them. At least for the time being, if not forever, anyway.

After the Scouts and their allies realized Jeddite had gotten away from them well enough, Skyhorse said, "I wish we could have gotten him for all the trouble that he caused around here the last month or two."

"So do I, and I'm sure the others here would all tend to agree with you, Skyhorse," said Renaissance, a few seconds after Sylvia said that here. "It might have been good to know our enemy was unable to escape before we destroyed them. I wonder where he is now, and if we'll ever see him again in the future. If not, then I wonder who's going to take over for our enemies, in terms of causing trouble for us, of course."

They generally conversed a while longer with each other, before then parting from each other as they saw fit to at the current time. The last two of them to do so who were human, at least, were Skyhorse and Renaissance. Skyhorse and Renaissance parted after they got to where Kiena/Ren had earlier parked her Spiritseeker, and after Ren got behind its wheel, when they both felt the need to do so. Sky watched Ren then drive off. And after she did so here, she eventually brought Serenade back to Sweet Musicalisti. That was so she could take care of them as was then necessary, given the fact that they'd both just been part of several engagements earlier that day, of course.

They arrived back at Sweet Musicalisti around 10 pm local time, after they'd patrolled around the area a bit more with each other. By the time that they returned to Sweet Musicalisti's grounds again, Sky had secretly powered down, and become just Sylvia Wakefield again. From just after they got back there to about 10:30 pm or so, she then attended to Serenade as their mutual situation required her to attend to him. With at least a little help from Reuben and Timothy, if and wherever possible and necessary, in fact.

After he was set for the night, Sylvia briefly left him again, for the obvious reasons. She did what she then had to do elsewhere on the stable's complex, before briefly returning to him again. Sylvia returned to the outside of his stall around 10:45. After she did so, they briefly conversed in secret with each other, before she left him for the rest of the night.

She returned home around 11:30, after briefly stopping at a Chinese restaurant and a grocery store between Sweet Musicalisti and Wakefield Castle. First she stopped at the Chinese restaurant to pick up some requested items that her siblings and parents had asked to try to pick up after her riding time with Serenade. And she then stopped at the grocery store to pick up some things mainly for herself. Especially because of the engagements that she'd just had to fight against assorted Negaverse-related monsters, of course.

She dropped off the necessary food and beverages in the Wakefields' kitchen, and got herself some other food and drinks to bring to her own room. Sylvia went to her room for the rest of the night by 11:40 pm, and attended to her various hurts for a while before doing anything else there. After she attended to them as best as she could at the current time, she then worked on her homework for a while. Sylvia did so until the work that needed to be done before the following day of school was completed sufficiently well. That took her to about 12:50 in the morning. After she finished her homework that was going to be due on the following day of school, she prepared her clothes for the following day of it. It took her a few minutes to do that, and then she began preparing for bed. By 1, then, she was in her bed, reading or writing in her journal. By 1:30, she turned out the nearest light to her at that time, and went to sleep. As had happened for her many times before, more dreams of the past soon came her way again, after she was quite soundly asleep in her bed here.


	12. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

About two weeks later, it was Saturday, November 17, 1990. And the Scouts were all assembled in the cavern, helping Mary get used to being in it more. Sylvia had assigned Mary a nook near it a few days before, after Mary had finally been able to visit the cavern for the first time in her life. Mary had checked out all the still-available nooks designated as sleeping areas by Sylvia, and had chosen one for herself. That nook would be hers to set up as she so chose to set it up, at least for the time being, if not forever, anyway.

Mary was now in her Scout state as Sailor Trinity, and Sylvia and Kiena were in theirs as Skyhorse and Renaissance, respectively, at the current time. As they were all in the cavern, they were monitoring things in the Jerusalem area from there as best as they could. While also helping Mary/Trinity get settled more into the nook that she'd chosen for herself, for that matter. Not present, though, at the current time, were Moonlight Serenade and Isaiah. For Serenade was currently on Sweet Musicalisti's grounds. And Isaiah was flying all over the Jerusalem area periodically, trying to find out where their next Negaverse General was, so that the Scouts could try to deal with them when they got the chance to do so well enough. He wasn't having any success in that regard, however, at least as of the present time.

As they monitored the local area, and as they helped outfit Mary's nook as necessary, the Scouts often discussed Scout-related matters with each other. Trinity eventually asked, "When do you think the Moon Princess will appear, if she does, Skyhorse?"

"I really don't know, Trinity. Nor do I yet know who she'll be, if she does. And under what circumstances she might do so, in fact, while we're at it. I also wonder when we might find other Scouts joining our group, for your information."

"Do you wonder who the Pilgrim is, by any chance at all, Sky?" asked Trinity, as she hung a few Chinese-style scrolls on some projections in the nook she'd been assigned to earlier.

"Sure I do. I believe we'll eventually find out who he is, when the need or ability makes it possible for us to do so, of course. I just don't know what'll have to happen before we can find out his true civilian identity, though, Trinity."

"I see. And are you possibly interested in him as a potential boyfriend, for that matter?"

"No, I'm not. At least not right now, if I ever will be, that is, Trinity," said Skyhorse. She and Ren then put a desk elsewhere in the nook where Trinity wanted that desk in it. After about an hour or so of working with Trinity to set up her new nook as she wanted it, Sky and Ren then returned to the main part of the cavern's area as needed or desired here.

Trinity stayed in her nook for a little longer, before Sky and Ren said they were going out on patrol again. It was then just after 1:15 pm local time when they did so. So, even though she might have preferred to stay in the cavern's area for at least a little while longer, she didn't. She put her bicycle in Ren's Spirtseeker, and got in it, along with Ren. Sky, however, got into her own van, and prepared to lead them out of the cavern again, in very short order.

By 1:20 pm, then, the two applicable vehicles were out of the cavern's immediate area, and heading back toward the city proper, in fact. When they got far enough into the city proper, then, Ren and Sky parked their vehicles, and exited them along with Trinity. They parked them in a rather deserted and rather isolated alley there, if at all possible. And then they patrolled in the city on foot as the need or desire arose for them to do so currently. Starting at about 1:35 or so, by the way.

The three Scouts patrolled for about two or so hours all over the area, at least. If not even longer than that. They finally decided to stop patrolling anywhere in the city sometime around 4 pm or so local time. And then they all returned to where they'd had their respective vehicles parked, of course. After doing so, Trinity eventually took her new bicycle out of Renaissance's trunk, and parted from her older Scout associates. Trinity parted from them, and returned to her family's apartment building just as quickly and as safely as she could do so well enough. On the way there, she also powered down at her earliest and safest possible opportunity

Shortly after Trinity left them both near each other in the city, Sky and Ren also parted from each other. Both eventually powered down after they did so. And both eventually went straight to their families' respective residences, in fact. They parted without planning to meet again with each other for any reason whatsoever later on that day or the night to follow.

When Kiena got home, she went right to her room, just as soon as she could. Her room was empty when she got there, for Leah and the rest of her family were out and about elsewhere in the local area. Because that was the case, she then decided it was a good time for her to nap in her bed for a little while, at least. So she napped in her bed from about 5 to about 8 or so.

When she woke up from her nap, then, Leah was again in their room. She learned this just as soon as she heard Leah playing her harp for a while. Of all the Jacanos, Leah was generally the only one who could play a harp reasonably well. So it was quite easy for Kiena to realize that Leah was now in their bedroom with her.

After she rose from her bed, she briefly moved over to her piano and played a few notes from her most recently-started sheet of music. That let Leah know that her older sister was now awake sufficiently enough, of course. Kiena played a few more notes to test them with other notes she'd just played here for her symphony. A few notes more from Leah's harp, and Kiena then left her piano's side again, just before deciding to open the curtain between her and her sister up.

After Kiena opened up the curtain between her and Leah, Leah asked, "Did you have a good nap, Kiena?"

"Yes, it seems so. I dreamed that Mozart and I were working on music together while he was still a young man. And that several other well-known classical composers from various times and places were with us while we did so, for that matter. People such as Haydn, Bach, and Beethoven, to name just a few, in fact, Leah."

"Which Bach?"

"Johann Sebastian, Leah."

"So was this dream of yours some sort of classical music jam session, by any chance at all, Kiena? And if so, what was it like? Supposing you could tell me well enough, of course."

"Most radical! It was a real blast, in fact. Believe it or not, this Beethoven that I saw in my dream was really belting it out on the saxophone. Haydn was playing an accordion, and Bach was drumming up a storm of sorts, at the same time. Vivaldi and Handel, for instance, were making trumpets sound almost heavenly. Gershwin was positively pleasant with his piano playing. While Mozart and I were primarily hamming it up on harpsichords and clavichords, if and whenever possible and desired for us then. Other composers and assorted musicians joined us for our jam session of sorts every so often, until it finally ended for us all. We seemed to periodically be jamming with each other for about a day or so, more or less." She described the rest of the dream that she'd just had during her latest nap in her bed to Leah as best as she could for a while longer. Eventually, she finished doing so to the best of her current ability to do so here.

When she did, Leah asked, "Do you know yet just how to finish your symphony?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. I'll put all the necessary notes of music down where required later, however. There are a few things I want to check at least once before I do so, Leah. If you'll excuse me, then, I'll check them out as quickly as I can. In the meantime, would you please vacate our room until further notice? There's at least one, if not more than one, phone call that I want or need to make here and now. And I'd really prefer you allow me my privacy while I make it or them, please."

"How much time do you need, then, Kiena?"

"I don't know. I'll have to let you know on that, if I can, of course."

Moments later, then, Leah left their room, and Kiena used a phone in her part of the room to call her friend Neesha Sansko. Kiena had known Neesha for many years, since they were very young. Neesha Sansko and Kiena had grown up quite close to each other, after Neesha was born in the Jerusalem area, in fact.

Neesha's family had long ago moved into the Jerusalem local area from their home nation of Sweden, just before Neesha had been conceived, by the way. Neesha's father was from Sweden, and her mother was from Madagascar. And their children up through the one before Neesha had been born in Sweden, near Stockholm. As for their children from Neesha onward, they all had been born in Israel. Neesha had twelve older siblings, and five siblings younger than her, in her family. She was the thirteenth child of eighteen for her rather prolific parents. And her oldest four siblings were now in their early to middle thirties, at least. Two of those four were married, one was engaged, and one was unattached.

Eventually, Kiena was able to talk with Neesha on the phone. When she was, Neesha asked, "Where've you been the past several days or weeks, Kiena?"

Neesha's father was a man who was now about 61 years old, and her mother was now about 59 years old. Neesha was about a year younger, more or less, than Kiena was. Neesha had darker skin than Kiena, but not much darker. Her mother was a black former television actress named Ketara Chobanga. While her father was a former part-time rock musician named Oskar, who retired from producing that kind of music when he accepted Jesus Christ into his life as his Lord and Saviour. Neesha's future mother had already become a Christian when she'd met her future father, but Oskar hadn't by then. Her future mother eventually helped lead him to Christ while they were still dating. And just before they married, her future father Oskar accepted Jesus Christ into his life.

"I've been rather busy with things that have recently come up for me of late, Neesha."

Ketara and Oskar eventually married each other while they were both still attending college in Sweden. And their first child was born when Oskar was still 23. By the time that Oskar turned 30, then, her future parents had produced their first four children, which included a set of twins. Over time, several other children joined the family as well. Two more as twins, and three others as triplets. The others not yet mentioned between the oldest child and Neesha were all single-birth children.

"Things like what, for example?"

After her parents had produced their twelfth child, they and all their current children immigrated to Israel, arriving there sometime in 1973. About two years later, then, more or less, Neesha joined the Sansko family, and she'd been part of it ever since. Another child arrived in 1977, another in 1980, another in 1982, another in 1985, and the last in 1987. No more children were likely to be born to her parents, for the obvious reasons. Her mother had left her child-bearing years behind no more than three or four months after the birth of her last child, when she entered permanent natural menopause.

"A symphony I've been working on quite often, whenever possible, for example."

Neesha had first met Kiena when she was about two months old, after Kiena's parents had unexpectedly met her parents at a day care center in the Jerusalem area. Ever since, the Jacanos and the Sanskos had often associated with each other in their lives. And by logical extension, the Sanskos had eventually also met up with other people associated with the Jacanos whenever the need or desire for them to do so arose in their respective lives, of course.

"Is it almost completed now, Kiena?"

Now Neesha and Kiena often were known to spend considerable amounts of time with each other in their lives, whenever possible. But now that Kiena had become a Scout, it was yet to be seen if that'd often continue to be the case for both of them, for the obvious reasons, of course.

"I still have to do at least some more work, if not a lot more work, on it before I can finally call it completed, Neesha. Then perhaps it'll be suitable enough for playing at a concert somewhere in the near future. Whether professionally or not, I think that might be the case, once I finish working on it as needed."

"Might my father be able to help perform it?" Neesha's father had normally been a guitarist for his now-dissolved band, which had been called Electronic Wing in English, and other things in other languages as needed. He hadn't necessarily been the band's lead guitarist, but he'd been a guitarist for it, nevertheless.

"I don't know. The symphony I've been working on of late doesn't really involve the guitar much in it, if I'm not too mistaken here. It involves a guitar only every once in a while, and only in one or two parts of it, I think."

Neesha thought for a few moments, and then said, "He might be willing to help perform it if you'd ask him to, Kiena."

"I don't think he's very familiar with classical music, Neesha."

"Maybe not. But he has still shared music with several of us in the past. Primarily, he's shared music he's played periodically over the years. Nothing from when he was still performing with Electronic Wing, but from the years since then, just so you know."

"What genre, primarily?"

"Gospel, or religious music, whenever possible. Nothing professionally, mind you, but stuff he's done outside of church or his job as a college professor in the local area, in fact."

"And your mother?"

"She doesn't seem to have much musical talent or to have much desire to produce music in her life. Mother mainly works as a kindergarten teacher at SBDES."

"I see. When was the last time she acted in a television show, a movie, or a theatrical stageplay, then, Neesha?"

"Just before they left Sweden for Israel, Kiena."

"And was she rather well-known before she chose to retire from acting?"

"To some degree, yes. But she quit, when she felt that the scripts being pitched to her by assorted people weren't worth her time and effort. And she chose her family over her career as an actress. She's never regretted doing so, in fact. I don't know if she'll ever choose to act again, of course. But whether or not she ever does so again, I'm glad that I've been able to spend more time with her than I might have been able to if she'd done that for as long as I've been around."

Kiena talked for a little while longer with Neesha, before Neesha said, "I hear my sister Aberkota calling now, and I suppose I better see what she wants. Do you think we could talk again sometime later, Kiena?"

"Sure, Neesha. Perhaps at lunch on Monday, if not sooner?"

"We'll see. Perhaps that might be possible. Only time will tell, though, of course."

Moments later, then, Neesha and Kiena ended their conversation with each other. After Neesha hung up her phone, Kiena called Sylvia's number, hoping to talk to her again for at least a little while. It was just about 8:50 pm local time when she was finally able to reach Sylvia on the phone. Sylvia soon picked up the phone in her room, after Martha had answered it first to see who was calling then.

After Martha left the line sufficiently well, Kiena began conversing in private with Sylvia. They discussed only things related to school at the current time, just in case certain members of their family might periodically hear them on the phone with each other, if and whenever possible. This, of course, was for all the obvious reasons. After a while, Sylvia asked Kiena, "So do you have your articles about certain seniors ready for the school paper's next issue yet?"

"Not yet, Sylvia. Why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering, that's all. I've already completed three out of four of them by now. The due date is Monday, November 26, in order for it to be able to be produced in sufficient enough quantities by the following Monday. How many articles that you were assigned have you finished by now?"

"I have completed two of four of them. I think I can get the rest done by the deadline, however. Supposing, of course, that I have enough time to type them up as needed by that time."

"Do you need help with getting the necessary interviews, by any chance?"

"No, I don't think I will need help with getting them. I have appointments to interview them next week at school. I believe I'll have those interviews done, and the related articles done, by the deadline, Sylvia."

They talked with each other until about 9:30 or so local time, before Sylvia said she had things to do now. After Sylvia said that, Kiena soon finished talking with her at the current time. And she let Sylvia hang up here, of course.

Kiena soon let Leah return to their room again. They talked for a while with each other, even while playing checkers with each other. As they played at least a few games with each other, they talked about their days as much as they then could. Eventually, by 10:30 pm, Leah said that she was getting rather tired of late. So Kiena let her retire for the rest of the night, in rather short order. Leah went to her part of their room, and did so. She turned off the lights on her side of their room, and went to sleep not too long after doing so.

Kiena went to her desk and worked for a while there. After doing so until about 11, she changed into some sleepwear for herself. That done, she then climbed into her bed, and read for a while. She read until about midnight, more or less, before she turned out the necessary lights on her side of the curtain, of course. And she was soon quite soundly asleep in her bed.

The following Monday, which was November 19, 1990, Sylvia and Kiena, among others, were eating lunch with each other. Those people with Sylvia and Kiena now also included Liz, Sonja, Ashley, and Leila, for that matter. And they also included Kiena's friends Neesha Sansko, Leanna Sirde, and Dani Kachon. Leanna and Dani had been friends of Kiena since their families had moved into the local area from Tel Aviv and Hebron, respectively.

Leanna Sirde was a native of Israel with some Greek, Turkish, Indian, and Egyptian blood in her family tree. She had short black hair worn in a near-crewcut and slightly tanned skin. She was about 5'8" and 140 pounds, with a slightly muscular look to her, wherever possible and appropriate. A birthmark in the approximate shape of a laurel wreath was barely visible on the left side of her neck, due to the current presence of the required school uniform's sailor-style collar. Another birthmark in the approximate shape of a winding vine of some sort was also present on her lower left leg. But it was currently hidden, wherever possible, by some long stockings. Leanna had five siblings, and all but one of them was a sister to her. Her only brother was still not yet school-aged, even for typical kindergarten-aged students. As for her, she was the third child of six for her parents.

As for Dani, she was now about 5'3" and 100 pounds, at about 16 years of age, more or less. And she now had barely wavy medium blue hair worn in a rather simple shoulder-length style. Often unbound, for that matter, whenever possible. Dani had moved with her family to the Jerusalem area in June 1987, after having spent most of her life in the Hebron area of Israel. Her mother now served in the Knesset, which was Israel's Parliament of sorts. Dani's father now worked for the _Jerusalem Post_ as a columnist in its Entertainment section, after essentially having had the same kind of position with a Hebron-area newspaper for several years. Dani was now an only child, for three of her siblings had died at somewhat young ages from leukemia, an inoperable and unexpected brain tumor, and an accidental drowning. She had been the second of her parents' four children. Her older brother had died in an accidental drowning before she was 8. Her younger sister had died from the aforementioned brain tumor before Dani was 11. And her younger brother had died from leukemia before she was 13. The summer after her younger brother's death, her parents had moved to the Jerusalem area with her, shortly after her mother was elected to the Knesset.

Leila eventually asked, "Miss Jacano, where did you meet Sylvia?"

"I met her at the Athletic Club about two months ago. And since that time, we've often encountered each other in our lives." Kiena told Leila and the others with her and Sylvia only things about their first meeting that were safe enough for her to tell them about it at the current time, of course. After a few minutes of this, then, Kiena asked, "Who got Sylvia interested in horses well enough, at least at first, girls?"

"I think it was her paternal grandparents, but I'm not very sure about that, Miss Jacano," said Elizabeth, a few moments of rather silent contemplation later.

"I see. And what do you think of this, Miss McCall?"

"It's just fine with me if she loves horses, Miss Jacano. Word has it that she's often been seen around town on Moonlight Serenade, if I'm not too mistaken here."

"True enough, I suppose."

"Rumor has it that Skyhorse has often been seen riding him around town as well. I wonder if Skyhorse and Sylvia happen to know each other, for that matter, Miss Jacano."

"I don't know about that. I mean, Miss McCall, just because they may ride the same horse, that doesn't necessarily mean that they know each other."

"Maybe not, Miss Jacano, but it still might appear so to certain people who might not know any better than that."

"Just because Skyhorse and I might often ride the same horse, that doesn't necessarily mean we know each other. I mean, as far as I know right now, there are at least a few hundred people who visit Sweet Musicalisti's grounds periodically for whatever reason they might do so at all. Perhaps even more than that, Liz," said Sylvia, while both Liz and Kiena were then taking some bites from their respective fruit salads.

"Perhaps that might be true. But I would hate to see something possibly happen to Moonlight Serenade whenever he was with Skyhorse. He's a rather good-looking horse, and I would really not want him to see him hurt or worse, if it could possibly be avoided at all, Sylvia."

"Skyhorse is always watching out for him, and so am I, whenever we're with him, I'm quite sure, Liz. If he's with either of us, then he should be just fine most, if not all, of the time, I believe. God willing, of course."

For most, if not all, of the remainder of their current lunch period, the nine girls conversed with each other, if and whenever possible and desired. Eventually, though, they all had to leave the school's main cafeteria again, for the obvious reasons, of course. And so they did so, heading as quickly as they could to their respective next classes, after doing that well enough.

Hours later, then, Sylvia and all the necessary people eventually left the school's grounds again, in order to do whatever they then chose to do in their respective lives. Sylvia left them in her van, and began patrolling the area in it for a while. She did so while not powering up into her Scout state, in fact.

Eventually, she made her way home, and stayed there for a little while. She worked on her schoolwork for a while in her room, and did so until her communicator soon beeped a few times. Sylvia answered the beeps, and then asked, "What's up, Kiena?"

"Isaiah seems to have found a potential disturbance developing elsewhere in the city. He says it's quite near DBJHS at present, in fact."

"On my way." Ten seconds later, at most, Sylvia was Skyhorse again. She quickly wrote a rather brief note to her parents and siblings, and then left her room by accessing her balcony as needed. When she was on the other side of its doors, she put a pipe or something where needed for them, securing them from the outside. That done, she carefully jumped off her balcony, when it was safe enough for her to do so at the current time. And she twisted and somersaulted a few times apiece in midair safely to the ground below it. She slipped secretly to the back door of her family's garage, and then into it. About two or so minutes later, she got into her van and drove off as quickly and as safely as she could then do so here.

Skyhorse was well on the way back to her school by five minutes after leaving Wakefield Castle again. If she wasn't already there, of course. And she was also maintaining steady communications contact with Renaissance and Trinity, who were now responding to the potential disturbance as well.

When she got there, she saw a monster fighting against Ren and Trinity quite near a young woman none of them yet knew in their lives, if they ever would know this woman in them. The monster was tall, and had several rather flexible and rather stretchable tentacles of some yet-unknown sort for arms. Its eyes were like two gigantic pie plates, in terms of their roundness, and were about twice as wide as a regulation-sized NBA basketball, more or less. Its mouth and nose were rather shark-like. As was the rest of its head. As for its middle section, it had those various tentacles and a large fin on its back. Its feet were rather human-like, and they were each at the end of six huge spider-like legs branching off from its lowest third as needed. At least two, if not more than two, of those legs were in contact with the ground at all times around it, in fact. All in all, the monster was quite big and quite unusual-looking to Skyhorse when she joined the current fight that Ren and Trinity had already found them having to fight in.

Skyhorse went right to work on that monster, just as Ren and Trinity had done when the monster had revealed themselves near the school's soccer/football field. The monster had drained the energy from the woman near them as she was practicing her soccer skills alone on that field. It took her and her fellow Sailor Scouts a good while to drive them far enough away from that girl, even after Pilgrim eventually showed up as well there, and joined the fight. But eventually, Sky, Ren, Trinity, and Pilgrim forced them far enough away from that woman. And the monster began to try to get away from them all.

But eventually, they trapped them near a fence along three sides of the school grounds. And they all wore the monster down enough to nearly destroy it before Skyhorse would finish it off as needed. The final few strokes against that monster were given by Skyhorse, when the need arose for her to give them those strokes. The monster was destroyed, and the host body regained its energy after it was. And where needed, Sky healed the woman as the situation required her to do just that here.

Two minutes later, then, the Scouts and Pilgrim had left the scene and powered down. The Pilgrim left first, without another word to any of the Scouts, and then Trinity and Renaissance left moments later. Sky left the scene moments after Ren had earlier followed Trinity away from it. And she powered down after doing so well enough, once it was safe enough for her to do so.

After powering down, Sylvia was the only one that returned sufficiently well to the scene to check on the woman that the now-destroyed Negaverse monster had earlier drained the energy from. She checked on that woman quite thoroughly, in fact. And that woman was sufficiently okay, after having her energy restored to her by Skyhorse, in fact. When Sylvia was sufficiently sure that the woman was quite okay at the current time, she asked the woman her name.

The woman said, "My name is Tatiana Tereshkova."

"My name is Sylvia Wakefield, and you're on my high school's grounds. What are you doing here now, Tatiana?"

"Practicing my soccer skills. A friend of mine said I could practice them here."

"What is this friend's name?"

"Sergei Zivachonov is his name. He is now about 22 or 23 years old. He is an assistant coach for the boys' varsity soccer team here. I attend school at a local college. But their soccer field is not currently available for me to practice on. So he said I could practice here, because of that fact. I am also a member of a soccer team back home in Novosibirsk, in Russia. Sergei is also my boyfriend, you might say, Miss Wakefield."

"I see. Do you have a place to stay at the moment?"

"Yes, I do. I live in a dorm back at my college. I am now a college junior at my school. Sergei also is working on an astronomy-related graduate degree, even while working as an assistant coach here at your school."

"What are you studying, primarily?"

"Primarily, I am studying things related to biology, whenever possible, as part of an individualized major. I also have an individualized minor consisting mainly of things related to political science, whenever possible. I hope to graduate from college in no more than four or so years overall. I've already completed two of those years. And I fully expect that I'll be able to finish my undergraduate degree in about two more years, if enough bad things don't happen that make that quite impossible, by that time, in fact. I came here to Jerusalem just a few years ago for my senior year in high school, as a foreign exchange student, and I've generally lived in the area ever since then."

"And before you did, you generally lived in the Novosibirsk area of Russia?"

"That's right. I have spent most of my life in that part of the world. I probably will return there after I finally do get out of school with the necessary degrees. Or I'll probably settle near Odessa with Sergei, if I can, once we're married. That's supposing, of course, that we can be someday married to each other in the future, Miss Wakefield."

"Sergei's from the Odessa area?"

"That's right."

Sylvia and Tatiana talked a bit longer with each other, before Sylvia asked, "Will you be all right again if I were to leave you alone here?"

"I think so. What happened to me to make you ask that?"

"Some strange being drained your energy. Some people fought it off, and destroyed it, restoring your energy to you after doing that to the monster. If necessary, they also healed you of any injuries that the being gave you when it drained you of your energy, for that matter. At least as much as they then could, in fact."

"I see." Minutes later, then, Tatiana proved sufficiently well to Sylvia that she'd be okay enough if Sylvia were to leave her alone again for the rest of the night. After Tatiana did so well enough to suit Sylvia enough here, Sylvia then left Tatiana alone again where she'd found her.

Some time later, then, Sylvia became Skyhorse again, and patrolled near her school for a while. Whether it was on foot or in her van, she still did so, just the same. Eventually, after finding no more trouble that needed her attention in the area, she powered down yet again, and returned to Wakefield Castle.

She parked her van in the Wakefields' garage, and then exited the garage on foot through the same door she'd earlier accessed it. With that done, she walked to a place under her balcony as needed, and then leapt up suddenly on her balcony. She landed rather easily enough and rather quietly enough on that balcony, and returned to her room in very short order. After doing that, she closed her balcony doors again, just before securing them from the inside, as usual. She retired to her bed almost immediately after doing that.

Sylvia wrote for a little while in her journal, and read a few pages from a novel she'd only recently begun reading, before eventually turning out her light or lights as needed or desired for her here. After she turned out her light or lights, she was soon quite soundly asleep again in her bed. And lost in even more dreams of the past, in fact.


	13. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Three days or so later, Sylvia had decided to invite several girls to her house for a slumber party. She had gotten permission for that slumber party from her parents. And now several girls ranging from about 10 to 20 years old, more or less, were present in her room.

Those people included Liz McCall, Sonja Darram, Leila Kisbell, and Ashley Cornale, of course. Others also present in her room for that slumber party were Kiena, Mary, and Tatiana. Kiena had also asked Naomi, Joelle, and several of her friends or classmates if they'd be interested in coming to the slumber party, at Sylvia's request. But none of the people that she'd asked at Sylvia's request actually chose to come to it. The only seven people besides Sylvia who'd wanted to come to it were the aforementioned young ladies, in fact.

The girls came to Wakefield Castle by 5:30 pm local time on Friday, November 23, 1990, and they were all in Sylvia's room by 5:50, after getting there well enough. Sylvia had cleared enough space for the other seven girls to sleep in after getting permission from her parents to host a slumber party, of course. She did this by taking enough things to the cavern for a while in her van, just as quickly and as safely as she could, in fact.

After everyone was settled enough in her room, Sylvia then set up some things for them all to do while at Wakefield Castle in her room. Among those things that she now set up were several jars of paint safe enough to use on people's skin, such as on faces, for instance. A few puzzle books were present, and so were some 500-piece jigsaw puzzles and some makeup kits.

In time, several of the girls began working on one of the puzzles, as two others decided to paint each other with some paint from the paint jars that Sylvia had earlier provided. Mainly on their faces, if not anywhere else at all, for that matter. The girls who'd decided to paint each other were Sylvia and Leila. While Tatiana, Mary, Kiena, Ashley, and Sonja decided to work on the puzzle they'd chosen to work on together. As for Liz, she chose to work on a crossword puzzle in one of the available puzzle books.

While this was all going down, Sylvia had also decided to leave a window open in her room. She did this just in case Isaiah might want to visit her there for a while. She hadn't seen him for a little while, in fact. And she'd gotten a feeling that he might eventually decide to come and visit her, for some yet-unknown reason, sometime in the last few hours or so.

First, Sylvia chose to paint on Leila, when Leila thought she should then do so. When she chose to do so, Leila was then wearing a one-piece mostly light green strapless swimsuit under a nearly-matching sweater and blue jeans. Leila soon showed her a picture from a photo album she'd brought with her to the party, and asked Sylvia, "Could you paint a picture like this on my skin where necessary, by any chance?" She'd just shown Sylvia a picture that she'd drawn in her free time. She'd drawn it while working with her parents on an archeological expedition several months ago, during her life's most recent summer. It was a picture that essentially featured a cabin on a lake in an unknown mountain range, in fact. Leila didn't know where the scene she'd drawn was set, but she'd still drawn it, just the same.

Sylvia said, after then looking at that picture for a long enough period of time, "I think I can well enough. This might take a while, however, to complete, just so you know. And you'll eventually have to remove your sweater, at least, in order for me to complete it well enough, I believe, Leila."

"That's fine, if that proves to be the case here, then, Sylvia."

Sylvia then had Leila make sure her hair was quite sufficiently pulled back off her neck and face, so that she'd hopefully be better able to paint her as requested here, of course. Miss Kisbell had normally straight black hair that was often worn down to about her shoulders, more or less, and often unbound. Leila then put her hair up in an appropriately-sized bun, so that Sylvia could paint her as the situation might require here. With that done, Sylvia prepared Leila's currently-exposed skin as needed for the painting of it as desired.

When her friend's currently-exposed skin was sufficiently prepared, Sylvia sat down in front of her so that she could paint that skin, of course. After she did that, she began painting Leila as needed there, starting with her face, and working down from there as time went on.

As Sylvia then painted Leila's face and neck, the other ladies periodically glanced at them both. As the mountains began taking shape as needed, Liz asked, "Leila, when did you draw the picture that Sylvia's working from here, and where did you draw it?"

"I drew it while Mom and Dad were working on a dig near Nazareth, during some free time in July. I had found myself alone near a deserted house in the area, when I got the idea to draw it. A little while after finding that same house, I entered it, intending to investigate it briefly. Several brief moments after I entered the house, I found myself experiencing a vision that soon led me to draw the picture Sylvia's working from here now. This vision led me to draw that picture, and I drew the picture using whatever I could find to make it at that time. It took me about thirty minutes to sketch out the basic lines of the drawing well enough to suit me enough. And about six hours of very intense effort to complete the drawing accurately enough to please me then, for that matter, after that happened well enough."

For a while, Sylvia painted mountains on Leila's face and neck, as well as all the necessary vegetation, et cetera, on them. Eventually, though, she said, "Leila, I need your back and your shoulders available now."

Leila then removed her sweater, as needed. Sylvia then prepared the newly-exposed skin for painting as the situation warranted here. A little while later, then, that skin was ready to be painted on as well. Sylvia soon began painting that skin when it was.

It took her until just about 7:45 or so, if not even longer than that, for Sylvia to finally finish painting Leila as she'd been requested to paint them. When she was done, and Leila was sufficiently pleased with her work, Sylvia then had Kiena take a few pictures of her work, with a camera elsewhere in the room. This was for all the obvious reasons, of course, before it would eventually have to be washed off as needed later.

After Kiena took enough pictures of Sylvia's work, as requested by Sylvia, she then set the camera aside again wherever needed in the room. And then Sylvia began searching for a good enough swimsuit to wear if and whenever necessary while Leila would be painting her as well. She soon found a suitable one, and went to the nearest bathroom in Wakefield Castle briefly in order to change into it. After changing into that suit, she soon returned to her room. And then Leila asked, "What do you want me to try and paint on you now, Sylvia?"

Sylvia went to her desk, and opened a drawer of it. She took out a sketchpad filled with several drawings she'd done recently. She briefly glanced at each one, and then picked out one that showed a scene from one of her recent dreams. It was a scene that she'd dreamed about not too long after she'd secretly become Skyhorse. Several girls were in part of the scene, with her in the middle of them, in dresses of assorted colors and appearances. When she was sure that scene was the one she wanted Leila to try to paint on her skin, she showed it to her.

Leila said, "This is quite intricate as well, Sylvia. It might take a while for me to do this one as well, for the obvious reasons. Is there a certain area that you want me to focus on more than any other area of the picture, or not?"

"If you have to zoom in on any part of the scene, zoom in on the girls in the center of the scene. Especially on the girl who looks a lot like I might, in fact."

"I'll see what I can do. But this may be considerably difficult for me to do, just the same, Sylvia. I hope you can understand that well enough."

"Sure I do, Leila. Sure I do."

Leila then had Sylvia put her hair in a bun, of course. When Sylvia had her hair secured well enough to suit her sufficiently enough, she then began preparing Sylvia's skin for being painted on as needed. Starting with her face, obviously enough. When Sylvia's skin was quite sufficiently prepared, Leila had Sylvia close her eyes and mouth, at least, if nothing else as well. With that done, Leila began painting Sylvia as needed here.

Some time later, Sylvia's face and neck were done. But much more of the painting had yet to be done. So Leila had Sylvia remove the sweater that she'd donned after changing into her swimsuit, in order to make it possible for Leila to prepare more skin for the necessary painting here, of course. After that skin was also ready for painting, Leila continued painting Sylvia as required. It took her quite a while longer for her to finish painting Sylvia as the circumstances related to that painting then warranted.

By 9:35, though, the required painting of Sylvia's skin was then completed sufficiently well to please both Sylvia and Leila enough. When it was, and when she was requested to do so, Kiena then took some pictures of Leila's work on Sylvia for a little while. Also for the obvious reasons, of course.

In fact, the scene that Leila had just tried to paint on Sylvia here was from a dream of a ball Sylvia had attended on the Moon during the Silver Millennium. The scene had taken place when Sylvia had been about twelve or thirteen years old, perhaps. It had happened sometime in 986, in fact. The scene had happened a little while before she'd gotten her first romantic kiss from, and given her first such kiss to, a certain Terran boy who'd been at that ball with many other people. Including her, of course.

Eventually, while that ball was still in progress, she and that certain Terran boy she'd kissed, and been kissed by, had retreated to a balcony near the ballroom in which that ball was taking place. They'd talked for a little while on that balcony. After doing that, they eventually had decided to kiss each other at least once apiece, if not more than that. They'd ultimately kissed each other only once during that ball, before eventually parting for the rest of the night, around the end of it, if not at the end of it.

That boy, in fact, was Rolando. But nobody in Sylvia or Rolando's currently-mortal lives knew that well enough. Not even Sylvia or Rolando, for that matter. For their memories of the past were not fully restored to them yet, if they'd ever be in the future. In time, she and Rolando might realize they were once quite close to each other, in terms of being in true love with each other. But at the current time, they didn't yet know that well enough, if even a little bit at all for either or both of them.

After Kiena had taken enough pictures of Leila's work, she returned the applicable camera to wherever it then belonged elsewhere in Sylvia's room, of course. And then Sylvia and Leila decided to work on the puzzle that everyone except they and Liz had generally been working on for at least a few hours, if not even longer than that. By 10 pm, then, that puzzle, which had been a puzzle with a picture of a few Dutch windmills for it, was most certainly completed here.

After the puzzle was completed, Sylvia took some food and a pitcher of lemonade out of a small fridge in her room, and distributed it among her guests and herself as needed or desired. And the eight ladies enjoyed that food and several glasses of lemonade near each other, even while talking at some length with each other.

As they were doing so, Isaiah suddenly flashed into the room through the still-open window that Sylvia had left open here. He flew right to Kiena's shoulder, and Kiena set down her current glass of lemonade. Kiena headed off toward Sylvia's balcony, and spent a few moments there with Isaiah still on her shoulder. When it was safe enough for her to do so, she then asked, "What's the matter, Isaiah?"

"I couldn't reach you on your communicator or through your locket. So I came here, hoping that you'd be around for a while here. It seems some more potential trouble is developing as we speak, Kiena. And it's seeming to give off Negaverse-related signals of some sort, for that matter. You might really want to let Sylvia and Mary know what's going on at the moment, of course." He said this in a way that she could understand, but that anyone else who didn't yet know he could talk might not understand well enough. If any unaware person was listening to them here, they'd most likely think that he was communicating in some bird language. If they weren't unaware, though, they'd most likely be able to understand what he was saying to her, for all the obvious reasons.

"Understood. Stay here, then, for about five minutes or so, until I return."

"Will do." She then left him alone for a few minutes, so that she could relay what he told her to the other two girls who were secretly Scouts here, obviously enough. Kiena went with them both into the nearest bathroom, where she then relayed the necessary information to them.

When they returned to Sylvia's bedroom, Sylvia eventually said, "Tatiana, it seems that Kiena, Mary, and I have some things we need to do for a while that we forgot to do earlier in the day. I'd like you to watch over everyone else here until we return to this party, please."

"Because I'm the oldest one of us ladies here, by any chance, Sylvia?"

"Yes, that's what I mean, Tatiana."

"Very well, Sylvia. How long do you think these things will take for you to do, then?"

"It's hard to say. But I can assure you that we'll be back here again as soon as we can, if at all possible, Tatiana."

"Understood, Sylvia. Then I'll do my best to do what needs to be done here while you're out and about elsewhere around here, of course."

"Thank you, Tatiana." Five minutes, at most, later, then, Kiena, Sylvia, Mary, and Isaiah left Sylvia's part of Wakefield Castle behind with each other. Kiena let Isaiah ride on her shoulder out of Sylvia's room through her bedroom door. Sylvia led the way out of her room, and as soon as Mary was out of her room as well, Sylvia had Tatiana lock its door again, for the obvious reasons.

A few more minutes later, and the three girls were with Isaiah in Sylvia's van. On the way there, then, and while they were all still in her van, the girls all transformed into their respective Scout states. Sylvia did so while still driving, so she couldn't make the usual movements she might make while transforming, in fact. They eventually parked about a block or two away from where the potential disturbance seemed to be developing elsewhere in the city. They did this so that Sylvia's van wouldn't be anywhere near where they might have to fight any Negaverse monsters, by the way, if things went well enough for them all during the upcoming fight.

Then they ran to where the disturbance was developing. This disturbance was being caused by a Negaverse monster near and in a pet store, in fact. And the Negaverse monster was now in the process of draining the energy of a cashier at that store, when they arrived there. They showed themselves to the monster, and then made rather brief speeches before beginning to fight them as needed.

The monster almost immediately dropped the cashier they'd been draining of energy, and began fighting them all. It was a long fight, with the Scouts and their opponent often taking hits from each other during it. But eventually, once the Pilgrim showed up as well, the Scouts began getting the upper hand in it. Even Isaiah got into the fight, attacking the monster periodically, whenever possible for him to do just that.

Eventually, the monster was worn down quite a bit, and the Scouts were about to eliminate him in the necessary manner. But before they could do so, the monster said, "You might eliminate me, but the Negaverse will ultimately prevail against you all, Satan willing."

"Never will the wicked Satan ultimately prevail against the righteous! He is already eternally defeated by the power of the Blood of Jesus Christ! Satan was defeated for all eternity past, present, and/or future, at the Cross on Calvary, when Jesus Christ died and rose again to live forevermore!" Skyhorse then slew the monster in the proper manner. He was ashes no more than a second later, and then those ashes vanished as well. The energy that the Negaverse monster had just drained from that cashier returned to him completely, and the cashier began to revive. As he did so, the three Scouts and their allies then left the scene behind just as quickly and as safely as they could. Which, quite fortunately for them all, at least at the current time, was immediately after he began to revive and stir in the store, in fact.

The three Scouts and Isaiah, but not the Pilgrim, soon rejoined each other near and in Sylvia's van, and left the area behind just as quickly and as safely as they could here. On the way back to Sylvia's house, they powered down just as they had powered up, if and wherever they had done that, in fact. And by the time that they all returned to Wakefield Castle, they were again back in their civilian states. Just as they had been when they'd left its grounds, of course. It was now just after 12:15 in the morning of Saturday, November 24, 1990, when they returned to Sylvia's room again. Isaiah hung out with all of the currently-present girls there for about another half hour, more or less, after Sylvia, Kiena, and Mary had returned there, before leaving them all again for Kiena's residence.

Until about 1:05 or so in the morning, then, the three secret Scouts resumed enjoying themselves with their fellow party attenders, before the ladies all began getting rather tired here. When they did so, they all began getting ready for bed in the necessary ways, of course. Even Sylvia and Leila began doing so here, in fact. Sylvia and Leila soon had both of their recently-painted skins completely clean again, after first having both taken somewhat short showers in the nearest bathroom, if and whenever possible. And they'd both changed into some appropriate enough attire for them to sleep in back in Sylvia's room here, quite obviously enough.

By 1:30 am, then, at the very latest, all eight ladies were in their respective sleeping bags, or in their bed, wherever applicable. And the bedroom's lights were all completely out here. By 1:45, they were all quite soundly asleep in them. Even Sylvia, by the way. Sylvia took just a little while longer to get quite soundly asleep in her bed than any of her guests did. But she was still quite soundly asleep again, and dreaming again, by 1:45 in the morning. Dreaming more of the past she once knew well enough in her life, for that matter, in fact.

About a week later, then, after school ended for her on Thursday, Sylvia encountered Tatiana again. Tatiana was at the pet store that the Scouts had last appeared at, and she wasn't alone. She was with her boyfriend Sergei Zivachonov, and they were looking at various animals that were there, when Sylvia encountered them. Sylvia had come to the pet store to pick up some supplies for the Shermans to use later on at Sweet Musicalisti's stable complex, while Tatiana and Sergei were looking for a pet that she could have for her own.

Tatiana didn't know just what kind of pet she might want to have here at the moment, but she did know she wanted one, just the same. So she was at the pet store with Sergei, looking for a suitable pet to have for herself here. And they were periodically talking with store personnel as they were doing that, of course.

Eventually, Tatiana settled on a mixed-breed male puppy of about three or four months in age. According to one of the store's people, this puppy's family tree had four different known breeds in it. Two on his mother's side, and two on his father's side. The two on his mother's side were a Canaan Dog and a Doberman Pinscher, while the two on his father's side were a Borzoi and a Siberian Husky. The puppy's mother had actually been born in a litter of five, due to a rather unexpected mating. And her mother had been a Doberman Pinscher, while her father had been a Canaan Dog. The puppy's father had been born to a Siberian Husky male and a Borzoi female, after much careful consideration and quite extensive negotiations related to their pairings between the necessary owners of both dogs had been conducted as needed. Eventually, both of the puppy's parents had unexpectedly encountered each other while their owners had been working together as actors on a movie set. They mated without anyone realizing they had before it was too late to do anything else about the situation well enough. And time still went by, of course, during the related movie production. Their owners eventually found out about that mating, when the necessary signs became quite evident to them both as well. The aforementioned puppy had been born in a litter of nine, two of which had died within 48 hours of birth. Three of the seven surviving puppies from that litter had been given away. Two had been kept. And the other two had been sold to the store that Tatiana was now in with Sylvia and Sergei. One of the kept puppies went to each of the owners of their respective parents, for all the obvious reasons.

The puppy had a moderately-thick coat similar to the Siberian Husky, in fact. But it wasn't very thick, even given the presence of Borzoi blood in its unique genetic makeup. Also, it was quite similarly colored, at least to some degree, if not to a great degree, to a typical Doberman Pinscher. It was largely black and tan on its sides, but not on its back, head, neck, tail, or legs. Its head and neck were Borzoi-like, in terms of their approximate shapes and colorations. Its tail was quite similar to that of a Canaan Dog, in that it curled up much like a normal Spitz-type dog's tail might often do, and it was generally about that length, more or less. As for its back or legs, they were all now generally colored like a Siberian Husky, if and wherever possible, and of quite similar conformation and configuration.

The puppy in question now weighed about fifteen or so pounds, and he was now about thirteen or so inches high at the shoulder. After getting all the information that she could from the necessary people at the store about that puppy, she decided to buy that puppy for herself. It cost her the equivalent of about 600 American Dollars, after she bought all the necessary things related to that puppy, for that matter. But she still bought that puppy for herself. Sergei had strongly suggested that she buy a cat or a kitten, but she'd chosen a puppy instead.

Eventually, Tatiana and Sergei left the store with her just-made purchases, as Sylvia was then finishing her loading of all the necessary supplies for the Shermans in her van. Before they left the area of the store behind again, they briefly let Sylvia see the puppy Tatiana had just bought at it. Sylvia eventually said, "He looks rather interesting, Tatiana. I wonder if you have a name picked out for him yet."

"No, I don't. Hopefully, though, I'll eventually come up with one for him before too much longer. That's if the need arises for me to name him, of course." After a bit more conversation between Sylvia, Tatiana, and Sergei here, Sylvia drove away from the store's area, and headed off toward Sweet Musicalisti's grounds again. She left that store's area just a few minutes before Tatiana and Sergei did, in fact.

Sylvia arrived back at Sweet Musicalisti's grounds around 6:30 pm local time, and parked her van wherever the need arose for her to do that at the present time. Several people helped her unload the necessary supplies from her van wherever appropriate. After which, she parked her van in a parking lot on the grounds, of course. That done, she drew some curtains inside her van shut, and changed into some clothes more appropriate for riding in, for the obvious reasons. After doing that well enough to suit her enough, she then opened those curtains again, if and when the need arose for her to do so here. And she soon exited her van, just before heading directly to Moonlight Serenade's stall.

He was quite glad to see her again, for he'd not seen her for about a day or so, more or less. He'd not had a chance to see her the day or night of her slumber party, in fact. So he was quite glad to see her again after so much time away from her here. She got him ready for another ride, and soon climbed up on him as well, of course.

After they were far enough away from Sweet Musicalisti to talk safely enough with each other, she eventually told him everything she could tell him now. And she told him everything she could about what'd now happened for her and others they were now associated with in their lives since their last meeting with each other. It took her at least half an hour, more or less, if not even longer, for her to tell him enough about the battle in and near the pet store they'd most recently fought against a Negaverse monster. This, of course, was for all the obvious reasons.

When she was finally done telling him enough about at least a few recent events that she'd been part of that he'd not been, he soon said, "Good job, Sylvia. I wish I could have been there to see your last fight."

"Perhaps one or more of our cameras picked up it somehow and somewhere, Serenade."

"But to know that, we'd have to check them, of course. Either up close and personal, or at a considerable distance, I'm sure."

The two of them patrolled for a while in the city with each other before heading to the cavern. Mostly with her not yet powered up, in fact. They both spent a few hours there from about 8 to about 11 or so, doing whatever then came to both their minds while they were still there. Sylvia practiced her hand-to-hand fighting skills against assorted training dummies in the cavern area, just in case she might eventually have to use them in the future during any of her Scout-related battles. Even if they might not actually fight back against her, she still did that, just the same.

As she practiced for a while with them, she also periodically viewed some taped footage they'd just been able to retrieve well enough from the Scouts' latest battle with a Negaverse monster. She even took some notes, if and whenever necessary and possible, in fact. That way, she could hopefully be able to discuss those battles at some length with the other Scouts, if and whenever possible in the future, of course.

When it got to around 11 or so, then, she began preparing to leave the cavern again on his back. She picked up a few things from her nook in the cavern's area, and put them in her backpack that she'd brought to the cavern with them both, which was hanging from one side of Serenade's saddle. Not too many things, of course, but still at least a few things, just the same. When she was sufficiently satisfied with the contents of that backpack, she soon climbed on his back again, and they left the cavern behind again, as usual. They eventually returned to Sweet Musicalisti with each other, after delaying their return for at least a little while to there, in fact. They arrived back on Sweet Musicalisti's grounds sometime around local midnight. Half an hour or so after that, then, both Moonlight Serenade and Sylvia were taken care of in the necessary manners. Especially Serenade, for that matter.

After they were both taken care of as needed, Sylvia eventually left the stable complex's grounds for Wakefield Castle. It was almost 1:15 in the morning of Friday, November 30, 1990, when she did so. She returned there by 1:30 or so local time. And soon afterward, she was in her room for the rest of the night. Sylvia prepared her necessary clothes for the following day of school before retiring to her bed, of course. She worked for only a few minutes or so, at most, on whatever homework she needed to do before retiring to her bed. Then she changed into some appropriate enough sleepwear. With that done, she climbed in her bed, where she then wrote in her journal and/or read for a little while. After she began to get quite sleepy there, then, she set aside her journal and/or current book, if and wherever needed, and turned out the necessary lights in her room. By 2, at the very latest, she fell quite soundly asleep. And she was again dreaming more of the past that she'd once been part of in her life, but no longer was.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

The following Wednesday, it was December 5, 1990. And Sylvia was with Mary and Kiena again at the restaurant/arcade where they'd met each other for the first time knowingly while they were all in their civilian states. The name of that restaurant/arcade, in fact, was _The Prophet's Pizza Parlor_, and it'd been in business since just after the Yom Kippur War. Naomi and Joelle Abraham's Uncle Ezekiel and Aunt Hephzibah owned and operated it, as well.

Naomi and Joelle would also become Scouts, but just not for some time yet would they do so at all. Naomi, Joelle, and another girl that eventually would become familiar enough to them all also normally worked part-time at _PPP_. But none of the three had yet shown up for work there that afternoon. It was now just after 4:30 pm local time. When Sylvia, Kiena, and Mary got there, the restaurant/arcade wasn't very full. For most of its usual patrons hadn't yet appeared there as they often would after getting out of school for the day.

A hostess soon seated them in a booth in the restaurant part of the establishment. And they gave Sylvia and her companions some menus to peruse for at least a few minutes until a waitress could get to their booth well enough. Sylvia and her companions studied those menus for a little while until a waitress came to their booth to take their orders. The waitress came to their booth around 4:45 pm local time. And soon after doing that, she took their respective orders for some pizzas and beverages.

While the three of them waited for their food and drinks to arrive at their booth here, they pulled a few of their school books out of their respective backpacks and opened them as they saw fit to. They put them on the table in their booth, and studied for a while with each other. If needed or desired, they periodically helped each other with some schoolwork they did while waiting for their food and beverages.

Eventually, by about 5:10 pm, their ordered food and beverages came to them. Courtesy of the waitress, of course. When their food and beverages came, they set their books, et cetera, aside so that they could consume their just-ordered items as needed or desired. Moments later, then, the waitress left them alone again, in order to attend to other patrons elsewhere in _PPP_.

Little did the three know yet, if at all, that their waitress was also going to be a Scout someday. But that was still quite some time in the future, most likely. That same waitress wasn't named Naomi or Joelle, in fact. She was actually named Etana Warren. And she would represent the planet Jupiter for the Sailor Scouts, at least in the Jerusalem Zone of Earth, most likely.

Etana Warren was a Terran Caucasian girl who was now fourteen years old, as of the current day. She was now an orphan, having lost her parents at twelve in a terrorist bombing of a Pan Am flight bound for the United States from the British Isles. She'd been staying with friends of her family at the time of her parents' deaths due to the aforementioned terrorist attack on their plane. Eventually, she found herself living with a good-sized inheritance in an apartment suite. This apartment suite was in the very same apartment building that Mary and her family now lived in, by the way. And it was on the same floor of that apartment building, for that matter. Her parents had left her that apartment suite by the terms of their wills, among other things that they'd left her in them. She'd been an only child. For her now-deceased parents had been unable to have any other children in their lives besides her, even after about twenty or so years of considerable trying to have more than one child for themselves in them.

Etana's inheritance was currently under the primary control of a court-appointed trustee, for no known living relatives could be found to take care of her well enough. At least not as of the current time, anyway. That trustee checked in on her periodically, whenever necessary. Like every month, if not even more frequently than that, in fact. Sometimes more than that, but always at least once a month. Etana had generally lived on her own ever since receiving part of her inheritance from her parents through the probate court that handled her parents' case. She'd taken the loss of her parents hard, of course, after their untimely deaths. She didn't have many friends, especially rather close ones. After her parents' deaths, she often tried dealing with her grief over their losses by fighting other people. She'd gotten kicked out of three high schools in the local area since then, for fighting, and was about to enter another, as of the following day.

The high school that she'd begin attending the following day would be DBJHS. However, she wouldn't be wearing the usual DBJHS female student uniform or uniforms. For she was too tall for them, and they wouldn't fit her well enough, in fact. At least not at the current time, anyway. She was now in 9th grade, for that matter.

Etana was now about 6'2" and about 154 pounds in her life. She was rather muscular and quite physically fit. Her normally straight hair was shoulder-length and auburn, and it was often worn in a high ponytail secured with a green-beaded hairband near her scalp. Two mostly pink rose-like earrings left to her by her mother were often worn in her ears as she saw fit, whenever possible. Her favorite colors were green and pink. She also often went bargain-hunting, did some cooking, and read romance novels, in her spare time. Not all the time, for the obvious reasons, but still quite often, just the same.

She might possibly be the next target for one of Nephlyte's monsters, or one of his next targets for them. But only time would tell if and when that might be the case, though. Until she was attacked, at least, she wouldn't realize she'd be a Scout, for the obvious reasons. But she eventually would realize that, when circumstances forced her to do just that, in fact.

Some time later, after Etana had given them all their food and beverages here, Sylvia and her companions finished those items. That done, they soon left some money for the waitress on their table, before leaving _PPP_ behind in order to patrol elsewhere in the city. Both for payment of their bill, and for a tip, in actual reality.

They soon left _PPP_ behind again, and began patrolling with each other at about 6 pm, more or less. First as normal civilians. And then, once it was safe enough for them all to do so, as Sailor Scouts. They patrolled around the city in various areas of it for about an hour or two, before heading back toward _PPP_, in order to hang out there for a while.

They returned to the restaurant/arcade at around 8:30 pm, and hung out there for a while longer. While they were still there, Rolando came into it with James and several other boys. Those boys had just left the nearby Athletic Club behind after having played some pickup basketball with each other there for a while.

When Rolando entered the restaurant/arcade with his associates, Sylvia said, all of a sudden, "Mr. Volois is here again, Kiena." She did that as she indicated where they now were heading in it.

Kiena and Mary turned to look at them, and Kiena soon said, "I wonder who those boys with him are, Sylvia. I know that one of them is James Selannis, but I don't recognize any of the others, it seems to me."

"Nor do I, Kiena."

Mary said, "I can recognize one or two of them well enough, I think. The boy with short brownish-black hair and a black and green sports-style jacket seems to be Kenneth Zumehai. The boy with a thick head of black and bushy hair who's wearing a military-style jacket is, I believe, called Chadwick Martuzalo. Though I could be wrong about such things, of course."

"And the others, Mary?"

"I'm not quite sure yet, if I'll ever be, Sylvia."

In fact, the boy that Mary thought was called Kenneth Zumehai had also been sent into the future by Queen Serenity about a thousand years before. So had the boy she thought was Chadwick Martuzalo. And so had Etana Warren, for that matter. However, Etana's name back in the Silver Millennium hadn't been Etana, it'd been Lita. Most specifically, it'd been Lita McKinley, and she'd been a Jupiterian Princess during the Silver Millennium.

Princesses Sylvia and Lita had often spent time with each other back in the days of the Silver Millennium, as had a lot of other people in either or both of their lives. They both had eventually fallen in battle against the Negaverse just before Queen Serenity had put them both and so many others into suspended animation. But neither girl currently knew that well enough in their lives here, for all the obvious reasons.

Sylvia, Kiena, and Mary spent at least some time, if not a lot of time, just observing the boys in Rolando's just-arrived group. For they were now hoping to see if any of them might strike their fancy at the current time well enough. Eventually, one of the boys got up from where they were all having hot chocolate with each other, and began moving toward the three girls. It was now about 9:05 pm local time, when they did so.

The aforementioned boy came toward them all, and asked, "How are you girls tonight?"

"Just fine, young man," said Kiena. "Why do you ask?"

The boy introduced himself as Matthew. Matthew Zebulon Jotibular, in fact. "I asked because I haven't seen any girls as good-looking as you three in quite a while, I believe."

Kiena said, "That must be a line. I've heard that kind of thing often enough before in my life, Mr. Jotibular."

"Well, believe it or not, but you three are quite good-looking, just the same. May I know your names, please?"

Kiena briefly conversed with her companions, and then said, as she indicated who was who here as needed, "I'm Kiena Jacano. These other two girls are Mary Josephus and Sylvia Wakefield, Mr. Jotibular."

"I see. Are you a composer, by any chance? Or a dancer, perhaps, Miss Jacano?"

"As a matter of fact, I am. Why did you think that, by the way?"

"Because I think I've seen your name in various programs related to assorted dancing or music performances that I've attended in the past. You have been part of assorted programs related to dancing or music performances, haven't you?"

"Yes, I have. I have often been part of such programs in the past. Both for school and for certain other groups I've worked with in the past, in fact."

"And do you have a favorite musical instrument that you like to work with the most, whenever possible?"

"The piano is my most favorite musical instrument. But I can also play some other musical instruments reasonably well, whenever necessary, Mr. Jotibular."

"Such as?" asked Matthew.

"Cellos, tubas, French horns, flutes, guitars, trumpets, clarinets, harps, some drums, some cymbals, and assorted other instruments, as needed, quite often."

"I see. And why is this the case?"

"Because I want to be rather skilled at music composition and performance in my life, if at all possible. Also, I'm working on at least one musical piece with parts related to any or all those instruments at the current time, in fact. I expect to complete work on that musical piece or those pieces in the very near future, if at all possible, by the way, Mr. Jotibular."

"Call me Matthew, or Matt, please, Miss Jacano."

"Why should I?" asked Kiena.

"Because I have a long last name, that's why."

"I see. Very well, I shall call you Matthew, then," said Kiena, after some silent consideration of that fact here that he'd just shared with her.

"And what should I call you?"

"Call me Kiena, I suppose. At least as long as we're going by first names outside of school. You're still young enough to attend high school, aren't you?"

"Yes, I attend DBJHS, by the way. I'm now a senior there."

"I haven't seen you before around there, I think."

"No, I don't suppose you have. My school-related social circles are mainly made up of seniors only at the current time. I'm also the kind of guy who doesn't have many friends outside of school or my interests, for that matter. I am the kind of guy who'd rather watch a stageplay than a typical television show or a typical movie. I spend a good deal of my time outside of school attending assorted theatrical productions or musical performances, if and whenever I'm not participating in them at all somehow. I have even written scripts for two produced stageplays in the past. They were both performed within the last two years in New York, London, Tokyo, and Calcutta. One of them was performed this past summer, and the other was performed during both of the summers of 1988 and 1989, in all four of the cities I just mentioned here."

"For the performances in Tokyo and Calcutta, were they generally performed in English or in the primary languages spoken in those places?"

"The Japanese performances of those plays were performed in Japanese, if and whenever possible. While the Indian performances of them were performed in Hindi, English, and assorted other languages or dialects, if and whenever possible."

"Such as, for example?"

"Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kashmiri, Marathi, Meithei, Malayalam, Oriya, Punjabi, Telugu, and Urdu."

"How was that possible?"

"Quite often, the assorted audience members who attended those performances in India were able to listen to those same performances in sets of headphones. Their headphones were each connected to a console in front of their seats, of course. And the audience members could normally choose the particular language that they then heard in those headphones while the related performances were going on, for that matter. The consoles would then register their assorted language choices as needed, and pipe in the appropriate lines of dialogue spoken in those languages by paid translators who could speak quite fluently in them as needed. And things would go from there with the applicable performances, of course."

Matthew talked a while longer with Kiena, Sylvia, and Mary, before returning to where Rolando and others were elsewhere in the restaurant. The girls watched him leave them, as the time then neared 9:45 pm local time. After he left them, they all spent only a few more minutes, at most, in the restaurant before leaving it for the rest of the night.

They left the restaurant just minutes before Etana did, and headed away from it. Eventually, they parted from each other as needed and/or desired, and they each went to their families' respective residences in the area. The last of them to arrive home for the rest of the night was Sylvia, and she arrived there in her van around 11 pm local time.

The following afternoon, during her lunch period, Sylvia encountered Etana under a tree near the school's main entrance. Etana was eating her lunch under a tree when she suddenly heard some older students picking on other nearby students who'd decided to eat bag lunches outside here. She arose from her place under that tree, and nearly avoided running into Sylvia as she arose and as she went to see what was now going on just around a corner of the school's main building.

Sylvia had been passing by, not hearing the older students while they were picking on students with bag lunches. When Etana nearly ran her over unintentionally, Sylvia turned and followed Etana, hoping to find out what was going on now.

Etana reached the students that were picking the fights, and began defending their intended victims with her assorted fighting skills. It wasn't long before the preyers were running away, due to Etana's defense of their intended victims. Among those intended victims was one of the girls that Sylvia had seen at the dance hall. That girl was the one that had the weird hairstyle Sylvia had earlier seen, in fact. Etana said, "That should keep them from picking on young kids like you, I hope."

The girl with the weird hairstyle said, "I hope that it will too. My name is Selena. Selena Moon, as a matter of fact."

"My name is Etana Warren, Miss Moon. Have we met before, by any chance? You seem at least a little familiar to me, for some reason."

"I don't think so. Are you from around here?"

"Now I am, at least, if I haven't always been."

As the two girls chatted briefly with each other, all the other students that Etana had just defended went about their business. Etana said, "If you have any more problems with anyone, just let me know, and I'll try to take care of them as needed, if at all possible, Selena."

"Perhaps I might just do that. Thank you for defending us."

"It was my pleasure, Princess."

"Princess? Where did that come from, Etana?"

"I really don't know for sure yet, if I ever will. In the meantime, though, I suppose we'd best get done with our lunches, and get to our respective next classes just as quickly as we can." A new friendship had now most likely been born between Etana and Selena here, in fact.

So Etana and Selena did those things that Etana had just suggested. And they did them just as quickly as they could do them here. As they were starting to head to those next classes for themselves, Sylvia's locket detected possible Negaverse activity developing nearby. In fact, it was flying in the direction of DBJHS in apparent avian form at the current time. This trouble was currently in the apparent form of a rather large vulture, or nearly so. Sylvia immediately searched for a safe enough place to transform, and to notify the other two known Scouts. And she soon found one in a small shack on the school's grounds. She quickly transformed, and before the potential trouble arrived on school grounds, or above them, she was again Skyhorse.

Skyhorse had to wait a bit longer before she could engage the possible new threat to her school, because it was still too far away for her to fight. As she waited, the other Scouts joined her near that shack, and prepared for possible battle. The trouble soon arrived above the school's grounds, and dived toward an open window of a classroom on the side of the school's main building that they were then on. Before they could stop that trouble from doing so, the vulture-like being swooped through that window and grabbed up a girl from that room. That done, the being then began draining energy from them as they flew out that classroom's window with that girl. The being drained them nearly dry, if at all possible here, and then dropped her toward the ground below. Trinity ran to catch that girl, and the other two Scouts waited to engage that monster, once it got close enough for them to do that here.

Two minutes after dropping the girl in question, the monster landed on the ground and began changing their current appearance into a slightly more humanoid form, but still quite vulture-like, just the same. The monster, now recognizable enough as a female, soon introduced themselves as Vultreska, and made the usual Satan-loving comments. They did this just before the Scouts introduced themselves, and made brief speeches of their own.

For the next several minutes, at least, if not even longer than that, the Scouts battled Vultreska as needed. As they were doing so, Pilgrim also suddenly appeared to aid them in the battle, after he saw they were having at least a little trouble dealing with her at the present time. The Scouts, Pilgrim, and Vultreska battled for a while with each other, before the Scouts and Pilgrim wore Vultreska down well enough to allow him to leave the battle's location. It wasn't much longer, then, before Skyhorse was able to finish Vultreska off completely, as necessary.

Five minutes later, at the very most, after making sure that the girl Vultreska had grabbed was sufficiently okay, all the Scouts were in their appropriate civilian states. And they all were in their appropriate class periods, after each having gotten to them about ten or so minutes into them, more or less. Of course, they all were marked as tardy in those classes, for all the obvious reasons. Sylvia, for one, didn't like it very much, quite naturally enough. But she actually had been late to her first after-lunch period, and the school's attendance rules had to be followed, just the same.

The Scouts didn't have to fight again for the rest of the school day, at least. Whether it was against a Negaverse monster or any terrorists, they still didn't have to fight anymore during the current school day, in fact. Just after the day ended, Sylvia, Kiena, and Mary were briefly conversing with each other a bit more near the school's main entrance/exit. As they did so, the girl that they'd fought to protect passed them about ten or so feet away. Sylvia asked, "Mary, do you by any chance know her name?"

"Her name is Amy Meredith. She transferred into the area from the Haifa area, I think. From what I hear, she's a brainy sort, it seems. Not many friends at all at present. She's what some people might call a loner, if what my sources tell me is accurate enough. There is this boy in 8th or 9th grade who is often a rather good source of information about assorted people and assorted things. I'm not quite sure of his name at the moment, but I do know that there is such a boy who goes to school here, just the same."

"She seems to have a weird hair color," commented Sylvia.

"Yes, I don't think you see many people with bluish-black hair in their lives. At least not hair that seems to be naturally that way. Her hair seems to be that way, from what I've heard and seen of her around this school," said Mary.

"When did she transfer into this school, as far as you know, Mary?" asked Kiena.

"When the school year started. It seems her mother works at one of the local hospitals. Her father is elsewhere, wherever that might be. From what I've heard, her parents aren't together. Possibly even divorced from each other. I'm not sure about that yet, however."

A little while later, Kiena and Mary left the school grounds, along with many other students and/or teachers. However, Sylvia stayed, for she had other things she wanted or needed to do back inside the school's main building. She went back inside the school, and worked with a teacher on a science project for a while, before the teacher let her leave the school again.

Sylvia arrived in the cavern at about 5 pm local time. When she got there, Mary and Kiena were already talking with Serenade and Isaiah. Serenade had run from Sweet Musicalisti in the middle of the day, and come to the cavern as quickly and as safely as he then could. Isaiah had been patrolling and hunting in the area of the cavern all day, generally, after Kiena had let him leave her house that morning. When Sylvia got there, Isaiah asked her, "Did you get the feeling that this Etana Warren girl is or was somewhat familiar to you earlier, Sylvia?"

"Not really. If she is, I can't really tell at the moment. Supposing I ever will, of course, Isaiah. We were too busy fighting a monster to spend much time in studying her at rather close range, if at all, I believe. Perhaps she might be one of the people we're looking for, or she might not. I really can't tell here, though," said Sylvia.

"Anyone else at the scene that might be at least a little familiar to you, in any way whatsoever, as far as you can currently recall, Sylvia?" asked Serenade.

"Mary, Kiena, and I, for the most part, fought against a Negaverse-associated monster that sought to drain someone by the name of Amy Meredith. And we continued to fight that monster even after the Pilgrim showed up to help us in the fight. Eventually, the Pilgrim left, and we finished off the monster. Some time later, Mary found out the girl's name, and we now believe she might possibly become a Scout. What side she might fight on, if that's eventually proven to be the case, we don't yet know, for we just encountered her for the first time today, I think, Serenade."

"Did the girl in question here possibly see you in your civilian states, girls?" asked Isaiah.

"We don't believe so, Isaiah," said Kiena. "She possibly could have seen us again later in the day while we were just being students, but we're not sure if that's the case here, just the same. I think she might have only seen us in our Scout states, if at all."

"Was she unconscious when you left her, Mary?"

"Of course not. We made sure that she was completely conscious and awake when we left her as Skyhorse, Renaissance, and Trinity, for the obvious reasons, Serenade," said Mary, in a slightly confused manner, wondering why he'd asked that here at least a little bit.

"I was asking you that for the obvious reasons, Mary. I just hoped you wouldn't leave someone alone who couldn't take care of themselves well enough at a current time, if it could possibly be avoided, that's all."

"We'll never do that, whenever we can possibly avoid doing so. As sure as we're Scouts, we'll never do that, if we don't ever have to, Serenade," said Mary.

"Good. Now let's discuss your most recent battle against Vultreska, if that's what the monster's name was, girls," said Isaiah. So all three girls did so. And eventually, their guardians were sufficiently informed about it.

After they were, they had the Scouts begin training in and around the cavern's area as directed by them. Whether with each other or with other items at their current disposals, they still did so. They did this until about 8:30, after which they ended their training in and around the cavern for the rest of the night. The three girls soon powered up into their Scout states, and their guardians went with them in time. Serenade with Skyhorse, and Isaiah with Renaissance and Trinity. Skyhorse rode Serenade, of course, while Isaiah rode in Ren's van with Trinity.

Sky went to one part of the city, while Ren and Trinity went to another. The three Scouts and their guardians then patrolled for at least an hour, if not longer than that, all over the city as needed. Not necessarily with them all being together, but they still did so, just the same. They eventually stopped patrolling just before they all went briefly to Sweet Musicalisti. Of course, by the time they all got there, all three Scouts powered down, for all the obvious reasons.

They were all together at Sweet Musicalisti from about 10:45 to about 11 or so, before they then began parting from each other for the rest of the night. They began parting from each other while still on the stable complex's grounds, and Sylvia was the last of the secret Scouts to leave those grounds as necessary. She stayed there until about 11:30 or so, after which she went briefly to _PPP_, in order to pick up some things for later Wakefield family consumption.

As she picked up those things there, she encountered a young woman of 18 who was wearing a college sweatshirt from the same college that Tatiana currently attended. She encountered them as she was about to exit _PPP_ for the rest of the night. And she did so when they nearly collided with each other, in fact.

The young woman introduced herself as Raneda Kodesse. Raneda was a college freshman from Lima, Peru, and she had moderately tanned skin. Her hair was black and just about halfway down her back currently, more or less. When Sylvia encountered Raneda, Raneda had been heading toward a table, and she had been heading toward _PPP_'s main entrance/exit.

They briefly conversed with each other, and then Sylvia left. Sylvia didn't yet know that Tatiana also knew Raneda, from frequent meetings in their college's student union. But that would eventually change, once the need arose for it to do just that. Possibly in the near future, depending on if and when the need arose for it to do that arose then, of course.

Sylvia returned to Wakefield Castle by about midnight local time. For a little while, then, she attended to the necessary food and beverages. At least in the Wakefields' kitchen area, if not anywhere else at all in Wakefield Castle. She was in her room by 12:15 in the morning of Friday, December 7, 1990. For about half an hour or so, she then did whatever she felt she had to do. Including, of course, consuming some food and a cup of cocoa that she'd brought to her room with her, in fact. By 1, she'd done that well enough to suit her sufficiently here. So she began getting herself ready for the following day of school and for bed, in very short order.

With those things done, she then climbed into her bed, and wrote in her journal or read a book for a little while there. Eventually, after about ten or so minutes in her bed doing those things, she put her things in the necessary place or places in her room. And she turned out all her current sources of illumination that she could, for all the obvious reasons. After she'd done that as best as she then could, she climbed back into her bed, and went to sleep by 1:45 in the morning, dropping off to it quite quickly. And quite soundly indeed, by the way. By 2, she was quite soundly asleep and quite soundly lost in her all-too-frequent dreams of the past again.


	15. Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

The following day, after breakfast, Sylvia went back to the library she'd visited several times since her first meeting with Rolando at the mall. She returned several books to there, and checked out others. While there, she encountered Tatiana again.

When she did, Tatiana asked her, "What brings you here now, Miss Wakefield?"

"The usual book exchanging, Tatiana. What are you doing here, for that matter?"

"I sometimes work here whenever I'm not going to school or practicing my soccer skills, et cetera, Miss Wakefield."

"Is that why you're calling me 'Miss Wakefield' right now?"

"Yes, it is. Just in case others might be around who don't know us well enough, in fact. That's why. What kinds of books are you getting this time?"

"A few mysteries, at least. If not anything else as well, in fact, Tatiana."

"I see. Might we be able to see each other later today, by any chance?"

"Perhaps. When do you expect to leave here for the day?"

"4:30 or so, I think. I'll just have to see how things go for me today, before I can be sure exactly when that might be the case here."

They talked for a little while longer with each other until about 11 or so in the morning, when Sylvia headed off in the direction of Sweet Musicalisti to spend some more time with Moonlight Serenade in her life. Sylvia left the library just after 11 am, and put her things in her van, before setting off for Sweet Musicalisti again. She arrived on the complex's grounds by 11:30, and soon had him ready for riding as needed.

After getting him ready well enough, she then rode off the grounds on his back, so as to be able to patrol for a while in the local area. From about 11:45 or so in the morning to about 3:45 in the afternoon, then, either they patrolled there, or they spent some time with each other in and around the cavern they'd found earlier.

Mostly, they patrolled in the local area, but still spent at least half an hour in and around the aforementioned cavern. They eventually decided to return to Sweet Musicalisti when it was just about 4 in the afternoon. But before they could get all the way back there as they'd left it, trouble arose again in the local area. Trouble, in fact, in the form of even more Arab terrorists, seeking to wreak more havoc on the innocent civilians of the Jerusalem area.

Those terrorists decided to try to cause trouble a few buildings or so away from _PPP_, at most, just before Skyhorse and others could show up well enough in the area so they could try to stop them all from doing so. The terrorists proved later to be from Hamas and/or Hezbollah, but nobody except the five or six dozen or so terrorists currently present there knew that yet, for the obvious reasons. It was about 4:20 or so in the afternoon when Skyhorse and Serenade arrived near where the terrorists were about to take as many hostages as they then could here, in fact.

They sought to wreak havoc in and around a moderately-sized department store where many people were shopping for assorted things in it. Before Skyhorse and Serenade arrived on the scene, and before any police officers or soldiers could arrive on the scene well enough, those same terrorists took at least a few dozen people hostage in the store, if not even more than that. They did so mainly by threatening to shoot anyone who they knew was trying to escape from the area while they were still holding those people hostage. So nobody tried to get away, for they really wanted to continue living for as long as they all could, of course.

The terrorists soon barricaded all the doors that they could in the store that might possibly be used to get in or out of the store, if they knew of them well enough. But they didn't know all the possible points of entry into or exit out of in the store. For they'd actually not done quite as good a job at planning their current mission as Arab terrorists as they all thought they'd earlier done. Which would become quite evident, when the necessary time came for that to be known arrived for them and anyone else then in the store with them.

The police arrived first on and around the scene. Then the soldiers did, soon surrounding the immediate area when they got there. Then Serenade and Skyhorse did so, followed not long afterward by the rest of the currently-known Scouts and Isaiah. But not the Pilgrim. At least not as of the current time, anyway.

The police soon informed all the Scouts of the situation, when the need arose for them to do so here. For the previous day, while the Scouts had been in their civilian states at school, a new somewhat secret directive from the city's Police Commissioner for all police officers then under his control had been issued at noon local time, effective as of that exact time. It'd first begun to be developed after Skyhorse's first battle as a Sailor Scout. And it'd been cleared by all the necessary governmental officials in the applicable national, district, and municipal governments, by 3 pm on Thursday, December 6, 1990, local time. So, while Sylvia, Kiena, and Mary were still at school, the Commissioner's directive went into immediate effect, as of the aforementioned time of day on Friday. And it'd remain in effect at least until such time as it didn't need to, or another directive from him superseding that same directive was issued by him.

This still-new directive required the police to tell any or all of the available Sailor Scouts whatever they needed to know if and/or whenever their assistance might be required to deal with certain situations and the Scouts were available to help try to deal with them. Whether those situations involved terrorists or not, that was to normally be the case for the police officers under the Commissioner's control, if and/or whenever possible, in fact. Some police officers might not like it much right now. But in due time, whenever that might be the case for them, they might just change their minds, if certain things ever happened to them or to people close enough to them in their lives. That was yet-unknown, though, for all the obvious reasons, of course.

After about ten or so minutes of conversation between the Scouts and the necessary police officers or soldiers, Skyhorse ordered Renaissance and Trinity to positions near, but not too near, the store, for at least the time being. Isaiah went with Ren, and Serenade stayed near the cops and soldiers, after Skyhorse told him what she wanted him to do here. A few moments later, after Skyhorse asked the cops and soldiers to not interfere with the Pilgrim if he made an appearance in the areas sufficiently near them, and they agreed not to, she moved to another nearby location. And she also waited for the proper time for her and her allies to act in the current situation well enough, of course.

When the terrorists made at least one sufficiently bad mistake, she had her allies begin to act in the necessary manner or manners. Ren and Isaiah found a place where they both could sneak into the store without being seen, heard, or detected well enough in rather short order. And they sneaked into it through a ventilation system of some sort. After they were just about to where the terrorists were currently holding their captives, they stayed put until they could move again toward where they'd need to go with each other.

As for Trinity and Skyhorse, they periodically moved as well toward the part of the store where the terrorists were currently located in it. Also without being seen, heard, or detected, for that matter. However, Skyhorse stayed closest of the Scouts to where the main doors of the store were, for the obvious reasons, of course.

Some time later, after the terrorists tried to negotiate for their freedom, offering the hostages' lives in return, the terrorists rejected the offers to them that the cops and soldiers were making to them currently. The terrorists emphasized that by beginning to attack the hostages one at a time with various weapons at their disposal, piping audio and video out to their opponents as they did so. Ten seconds later, at most, the Scouts were in action, and dropping out of their current hiding places, if and wherever possible.

As Renaissance hastily erected some sort of invisible energy shield around the hostages that she could erect it around, Isaiah went fully after one or more of the terrorists then attacking those hostages. Renaissance had only learned she could actually call one forth seemingly out of nowhere that morning, just after she'd woken up in her bed, while Leah was still quite asleep. After she learned that, she'd eventually gone for a drive elsewhere in the Jerusalem area, and found a safe enough place to practice doing that for a little while. While Sylvia had still been at the library with Tatiana and many other people, she'd been practicing that for some time, not even expecting to have to use that new ability of hers later on that day, in fact.

For a while, then, Renaissance maintained that shield around the hostages to the best of her current ability to do so, even while also defending them, Isaiah, and herself at the current time. The ten or so terrorists that she then fought with the help of Isaiah and a sword from the cavern she'd hidden in her subspace pocket, in fact, were soon outmatched by her. For they weren't able to keep Isaiah from harassing them well enough during the battle here, which helped her in it against them.

While they were fighting Ren and Isaiah, Skyhorse and Trinity joined the battle as well. And they took on other remaining terrorists for a while, at least until the Pilgrim showed up and shrouded the area somehow with his usual items. With that done, Trinity soon began leading whatever hostages out of the battle's location that she could lead out of it, once Sky told her to do so. While she then did that here, Sky, Ren, the Pilgrim, and Isaiah covered her retreat with the soon-to-be-free hostages from the area to the best of their combined ability to do so.

The shroud of some sort in the battle's area lasted for about ten or so minutes, at most. And when it dissipated fully into the air in and around there, only about three or four terrorists were still alive and actually able to fight in the area well enough. All the others either were dead, dying, or were alive, but knocked out of the rest of the fight. It took only a few moments more to knock the rest of the surviving terrorists out of the fight, by leaving them defenseless enough for the rest of the fight, and capturing them well enough in it. When that happened, the Pilgrim soon departed the area, without another word to anyone, if he didn't absolutely have to speak to anyone at all here. He left the scene without having even taken a human life in it. Not even by accident, in fact.

As for Isaiah, Trinity, Renaissance, and Skyhorse, of course, they obviously had to defend themselves and the hostages to the best of their abilities to do so. So they had to kill, even if they'd have preferred not to, at the current time, in the battle. They didn't kill everyone, but they killed enough of their opponents to win the battle well enough here, just the same.

Five or so minutes after the battle ended, the cops and the soldiers moved in, and dealt with the surviving terrorists as needed to the best of their abilities to do so. One or two of them went to a local hospital for a while, while the others went straight to jail just as soon as they could do that well enough here. While the cops and soldiers were dealing with the surviving terrorists as needed, then, the Scouts began slipping away, just as soon as they could do well enough and safely enough. And so did their animal companions, from the store's immediate area, in fact.

Soon afterward, all the Scouts and their allies were out of the area again. At least as currently-present fighters against evil people, anyway. Serenade and Skyhorse headed back off toward Sweet Musicalisti, as they'd often do after a battle or a patrol in the Jerusalem area of Israel. Renaissance eventually made her way to the same Athletic Club she'd been at with Sylvia and Liz several weeks, at least, earlier as Kiena. Trinity went back to where she lived with her family, powering down completely to Mary, while doing so. But she only did that when it was safe enough, and appropriate enough, for her to do so, on the way back there, of course.

None of the Scouts or their assorted allies ran into any trouble at all while returning to their respective residences in time, in fact. And they didn't see each other again for the rest of the day, and for the night yet to come, by the way. They eventually all made it back to those residences of theirs, and all were quite soundly asleep again by roughly midnight local time, for that matter.

* * *

On Sunday, after church, Sylvia met up with Tatiana, and asked her what she'd decided to call her new dog. Tatiana said, "I'm going to call them 'Vladephrad,' Sylvia. His name comes from a combination of Vlad, Eph, and Rad. Eph comes from Ephraim, which means 'fruitful.' Rad is a German name element that means 'counsel.' Vlad comes from the Slavic name element volod, which means 'rule.' So, in essence, his combined name could possibly mean 'rule of fruitful counsel,' 'fruitful rule of counsel,' or something else entirely which might escape me at the current time, I think." 

"I see, Tatiana," said Sylvia, as they did a little shopping with each other at the same mall that Sylvia and Rolando had first met each other at months earlier. They were mainly looking for new clothes items that they could wear periodically over the coming months, especially when spelunking, for instance. They spent several hours together with each other, only parting from each other after Sylvia was paged by Trinity and Renaissance rather unexpectedly.

Sylvia dropped Tatiana off at her residence, when she parted from them, and then joined her fellow Scouts as soon as she could do that well enough. But only after first getting Serenade from his stall as quickly as she could did she join them. That was because the current battle was being fought on the other side of Sweet Musicalisti from where she'd been when paged. She powered up on the way to where Trinity and Renaissance were now fighting a somewhat difficult Negaverse monster by the name of Kutathado. They were fighting this monster near Sweet Musicalisti, but not there, as already stated. They were fighting in and around the grounds of a neighboring farm called Shiloh's Blessed Crown Hall. Isaiah had alerted Mary and Kiena when he'd detected the disturbance, through their communicators. And they'd alerted Sylvia, in turn. Sylvia became Skyhorse just before reaching Sweet Musicalisti's grounds. After saddling Serenade as quickly and as safely as she could, she then mounted him and set off for SBCH's complex, following directions he gave her on the way there.

After arriving there, she soon sent him off in search of the Pilgrim. For right after her arrival there, she saw the size of the related Negaverse monster. The monster was about twenty or so feet tall, with plenty of dragon-like plates covering the majority of his body. His head was much like a gorilla's, but much larger, and with a hawk-like beak with it. His forelegs/arms were much like those of a gorilla or other similar animals. His torso was considerably covered with big plates as already described here, except near the shoulders and waist where such plates couldn't be. From about where his waist was to about where his two legs diverged from the rest of his body, there were no such plates present. Instead, that area was protected by assorted items of clothing and armor, wherever possible. His legs, except for the areas near his feet and on them, were protected by other plates exactly like the ones that were mostly present above his waist region, in fact. His feet and parts of them just above his feet were completely unbound and uncovered, at least in terms of footwear. For his feet were the feet of a dragon, with several toes on either foot as needed. And his tail was about eight feet long and about six feet thick, with several dragon-like plates on it as well.

The three present Scouts fought the monster somewhat ineffectively for a while, with each of them taking hits periodically, some more hurtful than others, of course. Kutathado periodically sent Scouts flying with his tail. Sometimes even into assorted buildings on and near SBCH's complex. Every time he did, the Scouts got even madder, for the obvious reasons. Eventually, they were about to drop totally in the battle. But before Kutathado could execute any killing strokes against any of them that he was then fighting, the Pilgrim, Moonlight Serenade, Isaiah, an unknown woman, and an unknown dog showed up near enough to him, and got at least some, if not all, of his current attention here, in fact. But they weren't necessarily in complete sight of each other or of him. The unknown dog and the woman were together, while Isaiah was perched on a still-standing building post, Serenade was near Skyhorse, and the Pilgrim was standing on the roof of a shed.

The unknown woman and the dog briefly went near Sky, Ren, and Trinity, in order to check on them a little bit. All three Scouts were still alive, but they all were now struggling to stay conscious enough here, of course. And then the woman and dog both moved away from them a quite considerable distance, so as not to reveal themselves completely to those three Scouts just yet, as they were still somewhat conscious here. Or to any of the others that'd arrived on the scene when they just had, for that matter.

A minute or so after they were both far enough away from the three Scouts, and completely out of sight of their future allies, the woman and the dog briefly conversed with each other. The woman asked, "Do I really have to become one of them?"

"Yes, it seems that you actually do have to become one of them, Tatiana. It is time for you to rejoin the ranks of the Sailor Scouts. Your time of current dormancy is now required to end."

"I was a Sailor Scout?"

"Yes, you were, long ago. And I was actually with you when you were put into suspended animation long ago."

"When was that, Vladephrad?"

"About a thousand years ago, more or less, if I remember correctly enough. I'll tell you more later, if and when it comes to me. But at the current time, your services as a Sailor Scout are required, or these particular Sailor Scouts will be disposed of soon, I think."

"Is there no other choice at the current time?"

"Apparently not. Do you remember your last transformation phrase?"

"Not right off-hand, Vladephrad. Why do you ask?"

"Because you'll need one in order to engage your transformation into your Sailor Scout state of being."

"I see. Can I just make up one, then?"

"Say whatever comes to mind, and perhaps it might work well enough for you here."

She thought for a minute, at most, as she also saw the Pilgrim, Serenade, and Isaiah go into action here. This was the case once Kutathado tried to swipe at them all here as he then saw fit, in fact. Some words came into her head, all of a sudden, and they were "Mir Crystal Power."

She said, after considering them for a few seconds, "I seem to have a transformation phrase that I can use here, Vladephrad."

"Good. Now use it, if you feel you must."

"All right. Stand back a few feet at least. I may need a little room to move here while transforming, then."

The dog backed away a few feet from Tatiana, who then called out, "Hey, you big fat ugly thing, stop what you're doing, or face the consequences of not doing so!"

"Who are you, and why are you interrupting my fun here?"

"Nobody whose name you'll be remembering shortly, if I have anything to say about it here. Leave them all alone, and go back to wherever you came from, or prepare to join the rest of your friends in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone!"

"Make me, young infant!"

"I am not an infant! Mir Crystal Power!"

Seconds later, a pillar of brown, gold, purple, black, and silver light shrouded her from the view of everyone else in the immediate area of things here. Inside the pillar, she began changing her appearance, and powering up to her first Sailor Scout state of being here.

Inside the pillar, from the top of her head to the soles of her feet, she began changing. Her nearly waist-length blonde hair that she often wore in looping braids changed its current look to seem like a combination of a rattlesnake's coil and a bun of some sort, wherever possible. A gold tiara then appeared on her forehead, with a purple stone, most likely an amethyst, at the base of it. Three stud-style earrings in the approximate shape of bear claws were in each of her earlobes. A brown choker was around her neck. She had a mostly black neckerchief with silver piping on it, with a locket above the knot then in it. The neckerchief was just above a mostly purple sailor-style collar with two stripes of white piping on it. Her mostly white uniform blouse of doeskin was sleeveless, for her current situation didn't currently require sleeves on it. There were three small shoulder pins on each of her shoulders. From outside in on both sides, the pins were in the shapes of bear, dove, and swan heads. There were brown armbands with feathers on her arms from doves and swans. And those armbands were made from assorted pieces of otter and beaver skins that'd been left over after fur trappers and traders elsewhere in Russia had turned other skins into finished products for later sale. The feathered armbands were now about halfway between her shoulders and elbows. Her gloves were black, made of buckskin, and secured at her elbows by bracelets. Those bracelets had bear claw-like beads attached to the exposed parts of them, and they'd been sewn into the cuffs of those gloves. Her skirt was light brown, and made of doeskin, just like her uniform's blouse had been. Her skirt was also non-pleated, as it fell almost to her knees. Many small doves and small swans were embroidered all over her skirt, if and wherever possible. Most, if not all, of them, though, were placed quite near her skirt's hem. Just below her knees, her nearly knee-length boots of buckskin and leather started. The boots were primarily made of buckskin, but they also had black treaded leather soles for them. Silver bear, dove, and swan heads were on either side of the boots as she then wore them here. One head of each type of animal was on either side of both boots, in fact. But they each weren't very large to cover the rest of the boot's upper parts, just the same. They were each about the size of the assorted heads on her skirt, for that matter. Two seconds or so after her boots were fully visible here then, her locket became completely visible to everyone just above the knot in her neckerchief. This locket was fairly round. And it had a design with a standing polar bear behind a crimson shield that bore the letters T, M, and K in silver on it, as it rested above the knot in her new neckerchief.

She then spoke again here, as the pillar of light completely vanished from around her in her immediate area. She shouted, "I am Sailor Mir, now commissioned to fight by the Prince of Peace. My goal is to see peace won as soon as possible for my people, whether they actually are from my land or not, in this Universe of ours. With the strength of the bear, the song of the swan, and the heart of the dove, I will do all I can to see that my people, no matter from where they may come, will eventually see peace come to them for as long as possible in each of their lives. I'll defend all who I possibly can of my people to the best of my ability to do so while I still can in this Universe of ours. I will never grant peace or truce to those who seek to do harm to my people, if I can possibly avoid it at all, while I still live and breathe in my life. Be hostile to me and my people at your own peril!"

A few seconds after she said all those things, she put her left hand on her hip. Then she held her right hand up to the sky in a perpendicular direction to the ground under her feet, so that her hand was pointing with all four fingers and her thumb at the sky above. Then she growled once like a Terran bear was often known to do, and a deck of playing cards materialized in her hand. This deck of cards had 56 cards in it, and there were four Jokers in it. The other 52 cards in the decks were of four different suits. Those suits were Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs. The four Jokers were between her fingers, while the other 52 cards were in her palm. She then brought her hand down again, and turned it so that her hand's palm was facing all the way up towards the sky, once her right hand was at her waist-level again. Next, she brought her left hand to the top of the deck of cards, gathering up the Jokers as she did so, and she began shuffling all the cards together, even the Jokers. A minute later, she stopped shuffling the cards and turned up the top card of the deck. It was an Ace of Spades, and the Ace pip in the center of the card was in the approximate shape of a bear's claw.

She studied that particular card, and thought very briefly here, as everyone continued to watch her, before suddenly yelling, "Bear Claw Phasing Strike!" As she yelled that attack phrase, the cards in her hands began changing their appearances and sizes as she began throwing them at Kutathado as she then saw fit, so that they appeared to turn into big bear claws with long nails for them. Kutathado tried to protect himself against her attack. But the cards-turned-claws often phased through his defenses and through his dragon-like plates, if and whenever possible. She unleashed several rounds of that attack, moving even as she still continued to bombard him with them. She did that now, so as to hopefully not allow him to get after her as easily as he might want to, for all the obvious reasons here, in fact.

Within five minutes or so of her beginning to attack him several times with her Bear Claw Phasing Strike attack, he'd begun stumbling around the area, and having a hard time fending off her attacks. Eventually, he could no longer wreak havoc against any of the Scouts or their current allies. And he soon began to tip over towards the ground under him. As he began to do so, the assorted allies of the Scouts quickly ran to where the three nearly-exhausted Scouts were currently lying on the ground here. And they pulled them all far enough away from where they thought he might land here. Fortunately enough for all concerned here, of course. He hit the ground about two minutes after all the Scouts and their allies were far enough away from him to avoid being squashed or anything by him when he did so. Mir weakened him even more, for at least another minute or two. And then she checked to see if Skyhorse would actually be able to somehow finish him off well enough here. By that time, Skyhorse was sufficiently rested, and moved toward him.

As Skyhorse did so, her locket quite suddenly began beeping several times rather rapidly. When she began the process of finishing him off, her sword accidentally hit his right side, and penetrated all the way to one of his stomachs. She tried to free her sword from his side, but couldn't until she had sliced his side at least a little bit here. When she'd done that enough, a few plates suddenly slid to one side, and revealed the inside of that stomach. When she could look inside well enough, she saw several dozen humanoid beings inside it on an apparent ledge of sorts trying to avoid being hit by assorted internal body fluids for Kutathado. Those beings were all alive, but were all barely able to avoid being hit by them at the present time. Skyhorse then called out to Mir, Trinity, and Renaissance, to see if they could help her free those humanoid beings from what appeared to be their eventual doom and digestion. As soon as she did so, the Pilgrim left, for he caught at least a whiff of something that didn't quite agree with him here. What it was in actual reality wasn't yet known here, if it ever would be. But if they ever had to fight another such being, they might eventually learn what it was, if at all possible.

All three of those Scouts immediately came to her side, and began helping her further open up Kutathado here. As the other three Scouts did so, she then freed her sword, and sliced off his head two minutes or so later, after a bit more work on him here. Once his head was amputated from his neck, she moved back to where the others were now rescuing those beings that'd been inside him. It took them at least another ten minutes or so for them to rescue all of them. Even with some help from Isaiah and Vladephrad here, in fact. After all the humanoid beings were rescued from that stomach of Kutathado's, and accounted for completely, they scurried away from their now-dead captor. And they began to immediately repair any and all battle-related damage that'd just been caused to the area in and around SBCH's complex.

Several others in the group of aliens began healing all of the injuries to the Scouts and to their still-present allies. And where needed and desired by them here, they also repaired the battle damage to the Scouts' assorted weapons. It took them all just about half an hour to completely heal all those injuries and the battle damage done to the Scouts' weapons and to the area in and around SBCH's complex. After they all did so, the apparent leader of those beings handed a crystal to each of their human rescuers, and a box of assorted other crystals to Skyhorse, before engaging a certain device on the belt of their quite futuristic-looking outfit of some sort. Ten seconds or so later, then, every single one of those humanoid beings suddenly vanished from sight, as if they'd disappeared into thin air, in a manner of speaking, perhaps.

After the aliens vanished, Skyhorse studied the crystal and the box the apparent leader gave her. She asked, "Serenade, do you have any idea why they gave us these things?"

"Perhaps because we rescued them from the monster they were in, I figure, Skyhorse. I suppose giving these crystals to us is at least partly, if not entirely, in gratitude for keeping them from being digested by Kutathado's digestive system."

"Have you any idea what these crystals will do for us? And what they are?"

"No, I don't think so. I've never seen crystals like these before, if I remember things well enough in my life. I don't know what they're for, in fact, Skyhorse. Perhaps our computers back in our headquarters might be able to identify them and their purposes well enough. But at the current time, I have no idea what these crystals are for. And what they'll do, if used by anyone."

The Scouts and their allies conversed with each other a little bit here, before eventually deciding to leave the area of SBCH's complex behind in their lives. The last of them to leave the area where the battle had just been waged were Skyhorse and Serenade, after they had been alone with each other for a little while again.

Skyhorse powered down again just before they both got back to Sweet Musicalisti, for all the obvious reasons. She, as Sylvia, spent at least some time attending to Moonlight Serenade and his current needs. And she eventually left him behind again in his stall at Sweet Musicalisti. After she did that, Sylvia eventually returned home to Wakefield Castle for the rest of the night.

She was home again there by 11:15 pm local time. Sylvia spent a little time getting herself a rather late supper of assorted items, and worked on some homework for a while, before she got too tired to do so well enough. She retired to her bed by 12:30 in the morning of Monday, December 10, 1990. And she was completely asleep again no more than about fifteen or so minutes after that, lost in more dreams like the ones she'd often had ever since she'd first become Skyhorse here in the Jerusalem area of Israel.


	16. Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

The following Thursday, Sylvia was with several of her friends outside of school, and shopping at the mall that she'd first encountered Rolando out. With her at the time were Kiena, Mary, Tatiana, Liz, Leila, Sonja, and Ashley. They were shopping for formal dresses that they could possibly wear to assorted holiday-related events in the area, in fact.

As they were shopping for said dresses, they happened to encounter Rolando. When they did so, Rolando was heading in the direction of the store where he'd bought some ship models about three months ago during one of Sylvia's previous trips to the mall. It was now just about 5:30 pm local time, for that matter. Kiena eventually asked him, "Are you looking for more ship models to buy, perhaps, Mr. Volois?"

"As a matter of fact, I am, Miss Jacano. But not necessarily for myself this time. It seems a penpal of mine from another country wants me to send them some specific ship models that they can't currently find in their country, if at all possible. So I'm looking for such models around here at the present time."

"Are these very special ship models, Mr. Volois?" asked Sylvia.

"As a matter of fact, they are. Not many of them are available at the present time. And as far as I know, they're only available in Israel."

"Why is that?" asked Tatiana.

"It seems to me that's the case because they're specially made by someone here in Israel, as far as I know currently, Miss Tereshkova."

"What kind of ships are you looking for this time?" asked Liz.

"Starships at least a bit similar to, if not entirely like, ones on _Star Trek: The Next Generation_, with some considerable touches of influence from assorted other science-fiction series. It seems these models are from an original class of starships that isn't entirely part of any known science fiction series on television or in the movies, Miss McCall. And it seems at least a few people are aware of this particular class of starships, including at least one of my penpals, as I've just told you all here well enough."

The ladies considered everything that he'd just told them here for a little while, and then Sonja asked, "Do you personally happen to know the maker of these ship models, by any chance at all, Mr. Volois?"

"No, but for some yet-unknown reason, I think that I'll eventually meet them someday, Miss Darram."

The nine of them spent at least an hour or so with each other, until Rolando eventually said, "I suppose I'll have to catch you all later. I just remembered something that I forgot to attend to elsewhere."

"Before you go, Mr. Volois, then, I have a question for you, if I may," said Sylvia.

"Oh? And what is that question?"

"Would you possibly be interested in attending a party several of my friends and I are in the process of setting up in the area around here?"

"When might this party be? And where, Miss Wakefield?"

"We don't know just where yet, and when, in fact. But we're still working on that sort of thing, just the same, Mr. Volois."

"I'll consider it. But if you might want me to possibly attend it, you'll probably need to let me know by this time next Thursday. My schedule is starting to fill up somewhat quickly of late, it seems to me here and now, Miss Wakefield."

"All right. I'll try to do that for you just as soon as I can give you exact enough details about such a thing later on, Mr. Volois."

With a brief nod at each of the now-present ladies, and especially at Sylvia, without any of the young women realizing it at the current time, he then wished them well for the rest of the current evening and/or night. After doing that, he soon melted into the crowd of shoppers now in the mall here.

After he was far enough out of sight for all eight young women, Sylvia said, all of a sudden, "I'm marrying him someday, God willing, ladies."

Liz, Leila, Sonja, and Ashley were startled when they heard her say that, and Leila asked, "What brings that idea on here, Sylvia?"

"I don't really know, Leila. I still suspect, though, that I eventually will be doing that for some reason, God willing. What that reason might be, I just don't know yet, if I ever will know that well enough. I hope I'll find that reason out eventually in my life, of course."

The young women stayed together with each other until just after 7:10 pm, when Liz, Leila, Sonja, and Ashley parted from the others, so that they could attend to certain other things they then had to do in their respective lives. That soon left just Sylvia, Kiena, Tatiana, and Mary alone with each other in the area of the mall.

All of a sudden, three lockets began beeping all of a sudden for Sylvia, Kiena, and Mary. They soon asked Tatiana, "Could you wait here for at least a little while? We'd like to freshen ourselves up a little bit here before we eat supper out with you, if we may. Can we go do that right now?" They asked her this as they passed a bookstore in the mall that primarily sold paperback novels in it, and once they realized they were being paged sufficiently well, in fact.

"Sure, girls. Do what you have to do, if you feel you must. I'll be right here, for as long as I can be. Please try to hurry back to here, if at all possible, once you get done taking care of yourself in the required manners elsewhere."

Two minutes later, then, Mary, Sylvia, and Kiena went to the nearest ladies' restroom in the mall. As soon as it was completely cleared of civilians, and as soon as the surrounding area around that restroom was too, the three of them powered up into their respective Scout states.

A minute or two after doing that, they all left the restroom behind without encountering anyone else as they did so. And they did that far enough out of the range of any unaware civilians in the mall, of course, for all the obvious reasons, when they could do so well enough. Even Tatiana, as a matter of fact.

They didn't yet know that their friend Tatiana was secretly the newest Sailor Scout in the Jerusalem Zone of Earth. But they'd all eventually come to learn that somehow, if and whenever necessary. They all quickly left the mall behind just as they'd all come to it in their respective civilian states, for that matter.

As soon as they were far enough away from the mall, and in a more secure location, they answered their pages, and learned that there was some trouble arising in the area of Teddy Kollek Stadium. Specifically, it was of a Negaverse nature, and Isaiah notified them of that fact, just as soon as he could do that well enough. He had seen signs of Negaverse activity start to appear in that part of Jerusalem. But the others hadn't had their communication channels completely open, so as to hopefully not attract unnecessary trouble for themselves while they were with Sonja, Liz, Leila, Ashley, and Tatiana, at least, if not anyone else at all. So he'd not been able to get in contact with them immediately after he first tried to communicate with them somehow.

As soon as they heard what was going on, they, of course, set off for the necessary part of Jerusalem, so they could attend to that trouble to the best of their current combined ability to do that. It took them several more minutes to get to the general area of the aforementioned stadium. As soon as the three Scouts were close enough to it, Isaiah and Serenade joined them outside it, once it was safe enough for them to do that here. The five of them conversed for a little while with each other, before splitting up as needed at the current time. Trinity entered the stadium through one gate, Skyhorse and Serenade another, and Renaissance a third. As for Isaiah, he flew over the stadium, and then into it, once it was safe enough for him to do so here.

Minutes later, all the Negaverse monsters, who'd been almost completely invisible up to that time, completely revealed themselves as they then saw fit to do that here. And they began primarily attacking a lead singer of a band then in the middle of a concert there, if not anyone else directly as well. There were five of them, by the way. And they all soon began going after that singer all of a sudden as they completely showed themselves. When certain other people tried to get them to stop doing so, the monsters put nearly everyone then in the stadium to sleep, in a manner of speaking. Even the concert-goers, in fact.

As they were primarily attacking the blonde-haired lead singer, Skyhorse gave a signal to Renaissance, who was in a tunnel leading to the main field area of the stadium, to get the monsters' attention here well enough. Renaissance began shooting arrows toward them in sufficient numbers to interrupt their current attack on that lead singer. As she did that, Sky and Trinity got even closer to the concert stage where the attack had temporarily stopped, due to Ren's firing of about two dozen arrows in very short order.

When they were close enough for the monsters to see them well enough, at least for the moment, and Serenade was sufficiently safe here as well, Skyhorse said, "Stop right there, monsters from the Pit! You have attacked a singer who wanted to provide a good night's entertainment to many people here. For that, you shall not be forgiven, as sure as we serve the Most High God of the Universe! I am Sailor Skyhorse, leader of the Sailor Scouts! And these are my fellow Scouts who will punish you for what you have now just done to many innocent people here! Especially to this young girl who only wanted to provide wholesome musical entertainment to everyone else here! Prepare to meet your deaths, all of you who would seek to destroy the music of innocent souls in this world of ours! Please introduce yourselves to our soon-to-be-unfortunate enemies, girls!" Skyhorse was standing on top of a small platform about fifty feet away from the monster closest to her. A slingshot was in her right hand, a shield was on her left arm, and her sword was still in its scabbard as it hung from her left hip, near a sack of several stones that she'd found just outside the stadium here.

"I am Sailor Renaissance, Sailor of Spirit and Soul's Rebirth!" shouted Renaissance, as she prepared to nock another arrow where needed here, while still about a hundred feet away from the nearest monster to her, for that matter. She was in a different direction from her fellow Scouts here, of course.

"Sailor Trinity, Sailor of Inspiration!" She held a few scorecards between the fingers of her left hand, and her sword in her right hand, as she prepared to attack the monsters with them. She was just about fifty feet away from the nearest of the five monsters who were now present in the stadium, in fact. Trinity had found them all in and near assorted seats of the now-sleeping people in the stadium as she moved closer to the five monsters then on the concert's main stage platform. When she picked them up, all of their edges became quite sharp, where necessary. The scorecards between her fingers also stiffened at least a little bit, if not a lot, so that she might be able to use them as improvised ranged weapons of some sort in the battle she was about to fight in here.

Three of the five monsters shouted, essentially as one, including the leader, "We aren't afraid of babies. Bow to our all-powerful Satan and our Queens Beryl and Metallia, and we may spare you all!"

"Never shall we bow to evil! All your leaders will be destroyed, when the proper times for them to be arrive for each of them as needed! And as for you all, you will pay for what you have done, by God's Holy Light!" shouted Skyhorse. She was almost instantly agreed with in similar words by the Scouts then with her here, in fact.

The monsters began to split up, in hopes of taking on the Scouts as best as they could at the current time. They all dodged a lot of stones, arrows, and scorecards, among other things, whenever they could possibly do that just now. But they all couldn't avoid being hit by at least a few of them apiece, especially after the Pilgrim, Moonlight Serenade, and Isaiah joined them in the fight a little while after the monsters began fighting the Scouts.

While all this was going on, a woman and a dog suddenly sneaked behind where the majority of the main stage platform was, and pulled several now-sleeping people off it, as safely as they could. Including, of course, the lead singer that the monsters had been going after when the Scouts had shown themselves well enough in the stadium. As they did that, the Scouts and their allies were finding that the battle was proving to be quite difficult for them all here, in fact.

The woman and the dog brought the people from the stage area to the nearest safe enough place elsewhere in the stadium, and then the woman said, "Please watch over all of these people, Vladephrad. It seems I'll actually have to help out the other Scouts and their allies here for a while. Say nothing to them using human speech, under any circumstances whatsoever. I'll rejoin you here just as soon as I can, of course. Remember, don't speak to them in human speech, if you must talk to them."

"Obviously, Tatiana. May the Prince of Peace protect you in the battle, then."

"I'm sure that He will, Vladephrad. Guard these people with your life, if you must."

"Understood." Without another word from him to her, or vice versa, she departed from a storeroom of some sort, and ducked into the nearest unoccupied ladies' restroom. This, of course, was for all the obvious reasons. Once she was sure she was sufficiently alone in the area of that restroom, she powered up, and became Sailor Mir for the second time in her life.

Two minutes or less after doing that, she was near the concert's main stage platform again. She soon introduced herself, after showing herself to the monsters, the Scouts, and their allies here well enough. She said, "I am Sailor Mir, Sailor of Peace. For wreaking havoc in this place, and trying to steal peace from the people here, you shall never be forgiven! As sure as I serve the Prince of Peace, you'll all be punished! Prepare to join your false leaders in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone, eventually, for all Eternity yet to come! Bear Claw Phasing Strike!"

Several volleys of her Bear Claw Phasing Strike attack later, all but one of the monsters was completely incapacitated or undeniably killed by her with them. In fact, those four monsters were completely vaporized into mere dust. For Mir had unknowingly unleashed particularly strong volleys of her attack against them. The leader, however, was too strong for her to kill or totally incapacitate here. But she managed to weaken it at least enough to perhaps allow Skyhorse to finish off it very soon here. She soon shouted, along with the Pilgrim, rather unexpectedly, for he'd stuck around the immediate area for a little longer than he usually would during a typical battle, "Skyhorse, you should be able to take care of the rest of this battle now. Do your righteous duty, and destroy this demon for the glory of God above! She will not survive, once you do so!"

Skyhorse wasted no further time in complying with the Pilgrim and Mir's request here, of course. The leader of the monsters tried to get away as best as she could. But she wasn't fast enough to keep Skyhorse from finishing her off. She soon left her unwilling and unknown host's body, once Skyhorse forced her out of it, and turned completely to dust. She was the only one of the five monsters that had taken bodily control of a true human being. While the others had actually been partially cybernetic beings with considerable alien looks to them. And not ones that were necessarily all that humanoid in their respective natures, for that matter.

After every single one of the Negaverse-related monsters was no more, the concert-goers and many other people anywhere in the stadium began to stir at least a little bit, if not a lot. For their previously-stolen energy was beginning to return to them here. As soon as the Scouts and their allies realized that well enough, they hastily withdrew from the area where the battle had just taken place, repairing any damage they possibly could even while still doing that. And they did that even as they all ran for what they hoped would prove to be quite sufficient amounts of cover just as quickly as they could. Except for Isaiah, of course, who could then fly out of the stadium here, for all of the obvious reasons.

Five minutes or so later, then, Serenade, Isaiah, and the Pilgrim were far enough away from Teddy Kollek Stadium, and not necessarily together, for that matter. As for Mir and the rest of the Scouts, starting at about five minutes or so after the Scouts' allies left them alone again, they each made their ways back to the mall using four different routes to it. That was so as not to arouse undue suspicion, if they could all possibly avoid it, for anyone then around them while they were still doing so here. Mir was the last of the four Scouts to leave the stadium area behind again. And that was for the simple reason that she eventually had to liberate Vladephrad from where he was at, of course.

After they were all far enough away from the stadium, and it was quite safe enough for them each to do so, they powered down to their respective civilian states of being. They eventually rejoined each other where Sylvia, Kiena, and Mary had left Tatiana alone in the mall earlier. It was nearly 9:45 pm by the time they all did that here. Tatiana was sitting just where they'd left her earlier when they came back to her, freshened up as best as they then could be here, in fact.

The four of them conversed with each other for a little while as they made their way to a pizza place in the mall that they'd all never been to before. After they all had ordered some small pizzas for themselves, among other things, Sylvia eventually noticed something in Tatiana's hair that she'd not actually seen before. She asked, "What's that in your hair now, Tatiana?"

"It's a flower from something called a 'minstrel plant,' it seems, Sylvia. Sergei gave it to me this afternoon, in fact. He said he'd found it at a store near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, if I remember what he told me well enough here. He said that he'd never actually seen a plant like the one that this flower is from before. And Sergei thought I might possibly be interested in something that might be quite unusual in its nature." Tatiana took it out from over her left ear near her temple, and began showing it to all three of her companions.

"Who sold it to him, Tatiana?" asked Kiena, as she cautiously studied the flower that was then in Tatiana's left hand here without physically touching it at all.

"It seems that the owner of the store where he bought it at this morning told him that it possibly came from somewhere in Scotland, and that it was a very rare kind of plant, as far as he then knew, Kiena."

"And has it been known of for very long by that owner?" asked Mary.

"No, as a matter of fact, he only learned of plants like it two days ago, Mary. The person he got it, and about another thirty or forty like plants, from, at that particular time, seemed to be a middle-aged woman with silvery hair. That's according to the second-hand account of that meeting between the owner and the woman that I got from Sergei when he gave me this plant here, of course."

The young women discussed other things besides the flower, of course, as they had their suppers with each other. Eventually, though, it was starting to get rather late for them all. So they wound up things for themselves just as quickly as they could here, of course. They eventually parted from each other around 10:30 pm local time. After which they began returning to their residences for the rest of the night, for the obvious reasons. Especially Mary, in fact.

On the way home for Sylvia, she checked on Serenade for at least a little while. By the time that she did so, Serenade was almost settled in for the rest of the night. That was largely, if not entirely, thanks to some quite excellent care at the hands of Reuben and Timothy here. She took over the rest of the necessary details for his care prior to his bedtime, in very short order, once she was sufficiently present again on Sweet Musicalisti's grounds. And she finished all of them not too much later, in fact.

Once it was safe enough for her to talk to Serenade at considerable enough length, she did so, and they basically discussed how their most recent battles had gone for them here in the Jerusalem area. They discussed those battles for a little while, at least, before Sylvia eventually began to show signs of considerable tiredness around him. Serenade soon said, "Sylvia, you should probably go home, and get some sleep. You really had to work hard during the last two battles, it seems to me here."

"Perhaps you're right. And perhaps a bit of shopping has also worn me out at least a little bit, if not a lot, for that matter."

"Why do you people often have to shop so much in your lives?"

"Because there are things that we need to have at certain times in our lives, Serenade. You're unfortunately not human. So it's probably quite hard for you to understand us humans well enough at times, I'm sure."

They talked for only a little while longer with each other, until about 11:15 or so, more or less. After they did that long enough to suit them both well enough while they were sufficiently able to do so, and sufficiently willing to do so, here, he wished her a good night, and she did the same. Minutes later, then, she was heading away from Sweet Musicalisti and back to Wakefield Castle. She arrived there again by 11:45 or so, at the very latest. And then she went to her room just as soon as she could do that here. As soon as she changed into her desired sleepwear, she headed straight for her bed, and hit it a few very brief moments later. She was quite soundly asleep again about two minutes after her head hit her pillow. And she was lost in more unplanned dreams of the past that she was once part of during the Silver Millennium.

* * *

The following day, as was often the case after a battle for the Scouts, the _Jerusalem Post_ reported on the Scouts' latest battle. It was now early in the morning of Friday, December 14, 1990. People were now wondering just who the newest Scout to be seen in the area was, and why they'd just appeared here, in opposition to the most recent Negaverse monsters to show up in the local area. Nobody, not even the other better-known Scouts, yet knew who she was in her civilian state. Except for, of course, her dog Vladephrad, for the obvious reasons. Nephlyte, in fact, was responsible, at least partly, if not entirely, for their presences in the local area.

He now was mainly using the name of Haron Sansiri in his assorted dealings all around the area. But he also had used certain other aliases in order to hopefully throw others who might now be hunting him off their tracks, whenever he saw fit to use them in the area, in fact. At least in terms of figuring out where he'd been and where he was likely to cause trouble again in the area, anyway. That was if they actually happened to suspect that he might have been behind any or all of those assorted Negaverse-related attacks in the area, of course.

He'd actually unleashed all the Negaverse-related monsters in the area since taking over the Negaverse's operations in the Jerusalem area of Israel. However, nobody had yet sufficiently tied him to any of them, most likely. They had their suspicions about the monsters' creator and controller, by the way, but they didn't yet know for sure if he'd been behind any or all of them at all, in fact.

Sylvia was then with both of her parents and all her siblings, having breakfast with them all before they'd each have to be about their required business elsewhere in the local area. Her father soon asked, "Why are these Scouts and monsters often fighting here in the local area, Sylvia, in your opinion?"

Sylvia thought for a few moments in relative silence, as she had some cereal for herself, among other things. After doing that for a little while, she then said, "Perhaps these monsters and their controllers are looking for someone or something. And the Scouts are trying to keep them from getting whatever or whoever they might be in search of, Dad."

"Well, there's got to be something somebody can do to keep them from wreaking havoc in the area, Sylvia."

"The Scouts are doing whatever they can to keep them from doing that, whenever the police and the IDF can't do that well enough at all."

"What makes you think that, Sylvia?" asked her mother.

"Just a feeling, you might say, Mother. What's generally happened when the Scouts have fought such beings, as far as you know?"

"The Scouts have generally won, haven't they?" asked Esther.

"Yes, you could say that, Mother, based on what we might all know of related things and people here so far. But from what I've actually heard around the local area, it seems that they've not always been able to do it fairly easily, whenever they've had to fight. I do get around the area to at least some degree, you know."

Ulysses asked, "Do you think you could get the Scouts' autographs from them if you have the chance to meet them someday?"

"I'll see what I can do, Uly. But I can't make any promises, other than that, in relation to your request here, for they often disappear right after a battle. And wherever they might go, it's obviously quite secret in its nature, from what I've heard about them before."

"I understand, I think. You don't want to try to get them for me, Sylvia."

"That's not necessarily so, Uly. It's just that it's almost totally impossible to be with them long enough to get their autographs, if they don't really want to be seen anywhere. Otherwise, I suppose they wouldn't mind perhaps giving their autographs to other people, if at all possible."

Rebecca said, "It seems like you're quite familiar with them. I wonder why."

"I actually have begun to try to learn as much as I possibly can about them at present, Rebecca. However, getting to actually know enough about them has often proven much harder for me to do than I've wanted it to be for myself, at least, if not others as well." Which, in fact, was entirely true for her. Just how true it was, though, only she and God truly knew in her life, of course. She already had learned much about them in the past, was learning much about them currently, and was expecting to learn a lot more about them in the future, if at all possible. But she couldn't necessarily say that in front of the rest of her family here, for all the obvious reasons, quite naturally enough.

Martha said, "I wonder if you're friends with them, in fact, Sylvia."

Sylvia thought, "If you only knew, Martha. If you only knew." However, she couldn't say that here to her sister Martha. She asked, "How can we be friends if we've never met each other, Martha? In order for a person to actually be friends with someone else, doesn't a person generally have to meet another person face-to-face? And have you known any of the Scouts to have met me or any of my friends before, by any chance?"

"No, I suppose not, Sylvia. But you do have to admit, several of the Scouts seem to often look a lot like assorted friends of yours, for some reason."

"Maybe so. But that doesn't necessarily mean that they might know each other, does it, Martha? I really don't think it does here, in fact."

"True enough, I suppose." Eventually Martha and the rest of her family's members then eating breakfast with each other went about their business, whatever it might be, on the current day. Including, of course, Sylvia.

* * *

Some time later, Rolando and Sylvia met up with each other in the cafeteria, and with several other friends of theirs. It was their lunch period when they were able to do that well enough here, by the way. They encountered each other and their respective friends in the lunch line while they were waiting for their lunches to be given to them by the necessary people near them here.

After they and their friends found a table where they could all eat with each other in the cafeteria, Rolando soon asked, "Miss Wakefield, are you still serious about wanting me to possibly attend the party you mentioned to me yesterday?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am, Mr. Volois. It seems there are several of us who might not actually have dates to it, for that matter."

"And are you one of those girls, by any chance, Miss Wakefield?"

"Sure I am. Otherwise, I wouldn't likely have asked you if you were possibly interested in such a party as we're trying to set up now for later, Mr. Volois."

"In that case, I don't think I'd be totally opposed to the idea of going with you to that party, if it's not where you live here in the Jerusalem area. Who else might need dates to that party, by any chance, Miss Wakefield?"

"I don't know for sure, in fact, Mr. Volois."

Leila passed by, en route to get a drink of water from a fountain elsewhere in the cafeteria, "I don't have a date in mind currently for that party, for instance."

"Is that so, Miss Kisbell?" said James Selannis.

"As a matter of fact, Mr. Selannis, it is. Why do you ask?"

"It seems I don't have any planned dates to any holiday parties within the next two weeks or so, if I remember correctly enough. And it'd be a shame to see that dress you purchased for use at one, or more than one, party have to wait to be used, if it could possibly be avoided at all, right, Miss Kisbell?"

"How do you know about that, Mr. Selannis?" asked Leila.

"Rolando told me that Miss Wakefield and a good number of her friends were shopping for dresses a little while ago. And you were one of the assorted young women he mentioned when he told me that earlier."

"I see. And are you offering to be a date for me if I were to go to at least one holiday party in the next two or so weeks, by any chance, Mr. Selannis?"

"As a matter of fact, I am, if that's all right with you." James winked at Leila here, hiding his eyes from everyone else's view briefly as he did so here. She saw his wink, and covered her mouth briefly with her right hand as she glanced at him in return.

"Well, I'm not quite as dark-skinned as you are, it seems to me, Mr. Selannis."

"That might be true, but I don't think it is wrong for people of considerably different skin tones to date, if they want to, Miss Kisbell."

"You don't, Mr. Selannis?"

"I don't believe in racial segregation. I think it's not right in this world to keep people from associating with each other if they don't want to stay away from each other, under normal enough circumstances, Miss Kisbell. Of course, sometimes people might want or need to be isolated from each other in this world. But considering the way the world is now, that's often very hard to do, for the obvious reasons, I'm sure."

James and his current companions conversed at least a little while with each other, before they all had to leave the cafeteria again for their respective classes elsewhere on DBJHS's school grounds. But several of them agreed to try to meet each other again, if and whenever possible, in the future, by the way. Including James and Leila, for that matter.

Little did anyone else yet know it, if they ever would know it. But James and Leila might have just started a relationship that could eventually lead them to the altar. It was yet to be seen if that'd ultimately prove to be the case, if they just had done that here, of course.

* * *

At least a few hours later, then, Rolando and Sylvia encountered each other in the library where they'd each learned at least a little bit about both their families about three months earlier. And they were each looking for several books they could check out for themselves there. Rolando was already there, in fact, when she arrived there after patrolling with Renaissance and Trinity in the local area for a while.

When she encountered him in the library again, she said, "This is a surprise, Mr. Volois, to see you here right now."

"Are we in school?"

"No, I suppose not."

"Then call me Rolando, if we're not there, and attending school at that time."

"Like we did in the restaurant/arcade several weeks ago, if I remember correctly enough?"

"Of course, Sylvia."

"As you wish. It seems that James is at least a little interested in my friend Leila. Why might that be?" She indicated that she wanted several books on shelves then out of her reach.

"I really don't know," answered Rolando, as he pulled a few books off upper shelves for her near them both at the current time, as were then needed by her here. After he did that, he handed her those books. She thanked him at least a little bit here, after he did that for her.

"No problem, Sylvia."

"Do you have a girlfriend at the current time?"

"I've never had one before. What about you?"

"Of course not. You do mean, 'Have I a boyfriend at the current time?' don't you?"

"Sorry, my mistake. Oops. That's what I meant, in fact."

"No problem, Rolando. No, I've never actually had one before. Though I think that the Pilgrim I've been hearing a lot about over the last few months seems to be rather cute, at least, if not more than that, if I remember things well enough in my life. From what I've heard, Sailor Skyhorse, whoever she might be, also seems to be at least a little bit interested in him as well."

"Do either of you seem to be interested in him as a possible boyfriend for yourselves in the future, as far as you can currently tell in your lives?"

"I'm not, at least. But I'd not be surprised if it ever happens to be the case, in fact."

"I see. And if she wins him over you?"

"Then so be it. But I don't think she will, for some yet-unknown reason."

The two of them talked for a while with each other, as they spent time browsing and reading in the library together. As time went on, Rolando unexpectedly began studying her at some length.

He studied her for a while as she continued to read one of the books that he'd gotten for her. As he did so, she eventually noticed that he was doing so here. She soon asked, "Why are you studying me right now, Rolando?"

He looked her in the eyes, and then said, "It seems that I've just gotten this feeling that we might be meant for each other in our lives. I don't know why, but I've just gotten this feeling here, at least for the first time, if never before, in my life."

"And do you like this feeling, or not?"

"It's at least okay, I think. If not better than that. I don't know yet if I'd be opposed to the idea too much, in actual reality, though, Sylvia."

"And if we did get married, hypothetically speaking, where would we live?"

"Perhaps in Scotland, if the need or desire arose for us to do so in our lives, I'm sure."

"I don't think I want to live that far away from home if I don't have to, Rolando."

"Well, what if God saw fit for us to be there with each other, somehow?"

"Then so be it. But I'd really prefer to stay in the Promised Land for the majority, if not all, of the rest of my life, I think, Rolando."

"The Promised Land being Israel?"

"Of course. I love my nation. Even if the majority of the rest of the world doesn't really seem to love it very much, if at all, I still do." The time for them both here was now just about 7:55 pm local time, in fact.

"I see. Scotland is much the same way for me, you might say. But since a good portion, if not all, of my family is here now, I'm here, Sylvia. In just a few more years, at most, I might be elsewhere. But for now, at least, I'm here. I don't know how much longer I'll be staying here in Israel, of course. It could be just a few years, or it could be for the rest of my mortal life. Only God knows for sure, for the obvious reasons."

They both then spent most of the next twenty or so minutes reading near each other in relative silence here. Eventually, around 8:15 pm or so, Rolando felt he'd been in the library long enough at the current time. So he soon parted from her there. He eventually left the entire library behind again at around 8:30 pm local time. She didn't see him again for the rest of the current night, after he did that here.

She left the entire library behind again herself about half an hour after he did. And then she headed to Sweet Musicalisti for a little while to spend a little time with Moonlight Serenade again before returning home for the rest of the night. Sylvia eventually left Sweet Musicalisti's grounds again sometime around 10 pm local time, at the very latest.

Sylvia spent a little time after leaving Sweet Musicalisti's grounds picking up things for the rest of her family that they then needed or wanted her to get for them. Supposing, of course, that she'd not already done so by the time that she left Sweet Musicalisti's grounds again. She arrived back at Wakefield Castle just before 10:45 pm local time, and she was in her bedroom again by 11 pm. She stayed there for the rest of the night, generally, before retiring to her bed by local midnight. Ten minutes after retiring to her bed, then, she was quite soundly asleep again in it, and lost in more dreams of the past that she'd once been part of, long before.


	17. Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

The following Monday, Sylvia encountered the band's lead singer that she and others had fought to protect. This girl was with a mostly white cat and a woman almost completely matching the storekeeper's description that Tatiana had told Sylvia of earlier. Sylvia was wearing her spare school uniform at present from DBJHS, in fact.

After a while, Sylvia introduced herself to them. The girl said, "My name is Andrea Kelly, and this woman here is Irene Shekovinski, if I remember her name well enough here."

"What's your cat's name, if I may ask?" asked Sylvia.

"Artemis. I just got him the other day as an early Christmas present, Miss Wakefield."

"How do you know this woman, Miss Kelly?"

"She moved into the area a few months ago, it seems. But I only met her after my most recent birthday in October, once my parents let me and my band begin performing in big stadiums and things. She, in fact, is my manager, in terms of things for this part of the world, at least. If not any other parts of it as well."

Irene was in her early to middle forties, with buns at the back of her head where necessary. She was currently wearing crescent moon and pearl drop pierced-ear earrings in her ears. Her hair was white, as described earlier, and two long ponytails that fell to about her knees were present. She also had on a light purple sweater, matching belt and slacks, and white tennis shoes. A pearl and diamond necklace with a crescent moon-shaped pendant of some sort was around her neck.

At the current time, Andrea and Irene were shopping for clothes that Andrea might be able to wear to a dance scheduled for Christmas Eve at one of the local schools. Andrea did not have the usual red bow in her hair yet, but she would eventually come to start to wear it whenever possible. Not likely until she awakened as a Scout would she come to do that in the future, probably. But she would do it, just the same.

Andrea was currently wearing a considerable amount of blue and yellow casual wear. She was doing this as she shopped with Irene at the same mall that Sylvia, as Skyhorse, had kept from being bombed by suicide bombers on a bus, when Sylvia encountered her and Irene there, in fact. Sylvia looked her over a bit, and then said, "You two seem at least a little familiar to me here, for some reason. Almost like I've seen you both at least once, if not more than once, somewhere before, at considerable enough length."

"As far as I know, I've never seen you before today, Miss Wakefield," said Andrea. Her thoughts were almost immediately echoed by Irene here. At least for the most part, if not entirely, anyway.

"Then why do you think I might be having this feeling that I've seen you both somewhere before at least once, Miss Kelly?"

"I really don't know," answered Andrea, as she began showing Irene a few ideas for possible dresses that she could wear to the already-mentioned dance.

After watching Andrea and Irene discuss several of those dresses in a dress shop for that mall they were now in, Sylvia said, "Blue and yellow dresses don't really seem to suit you well, for some reason. You should look for things primarily in orange and yellow, perhaps, Miss Kelly. I don't know why I'm thinking this, but I'm still thinking it."

"I don't like orange very much," stated Andrea.

"I have a feeling that will change for you in the future, for some yet-unknown reason. You should also consider looking for red ribbons to wear in your hair, Miss Kelly."

"What makes you say that, Miss Wakefield?" asked Irene, beginning to pay more attention to Sylvia as she watched Andrea and Irene debate the advantages and disadvantages of certain dresses then available in the store for potential purchase.

Artemis suddenly leapt off Andrea's left shoulder, where he'd eventually perched after Sylvia had encountered him and the two ladies with him now. He leapt to the floor, and began chasing a mouse he just spotted in the store somewhere. He didn't return to the ladies' presence here for at least the next five or ten minutes, in fact.

"I don't know that for sure yet here, if I ever will, in my life, Miss Shekovinski?"

"It's Mrs. Shekovinski, in fact, Miss Wakefield."

"Very well, Mrs. Shekovinski. I really don't know why I'm saying that for sure here, but I am. Whether or not I'll ever learn why in my life, I'm still saying that here."

"Understood, Miss Wakefield," said Irene. She studied Sylvia here at some length, as Sylvia wore her spare school uniform at the current time. After looking her over at some length, Irene then said, "Miss Wakefield, meet me at _PPP_ by Sunday night, if at all possible, by 9 pm local time. I'd like to talk to you, if I may, in private." She said that in a voice so low that nobody else who was currently in the store with them could hear her well enough, by the way.

"Why, Mrs. Shekovinski?" Sylvia answered just as quietly.

"I can't tell you here and now. But trust me, you'll be glad you did, I think."

"I'll see what I can do. But I won't make any promises to do more than that."

"Just be there. Meet me there by then, if at all possible. If something comes up, call me at this number." Irene quickly wrote some numbers down, and slipped her a piece of paper with those numbers on it, before Andrea rejoined them both where they were now standing in the store here. Then Sylvia secretly pocketed it in her purse without anyone else seeing her do so here well enough, in fact.

Some time later, then, at about 5:45 pm local time, Sylvia parted from both Irene and Andrea in very short order. And she soon began patrolling in the local area. First as Sylvia, and then as Skyhorse, once Moonlight Serenade showed up near her well enough. She patrolled for a few hours in the area, being joined later on her rounds by Renaissance and Trinity. Eventually, before they finished their nightly patrols, Isaiah joined them as well.

As they patrolled in the area, they eventually came within twenty yards of Tatiana near their school's main building. Tatiana was just about to leave the school's grounds after having just watched a girls' basketball game there between the Junior Varsity teams of DBJHS and another school in the local area. As Tatiana was about to unlock her car door, several people in apparent civilian dress came upon her, and tried to abduct her. She fought back against them at least a little bit, but still took a few hits from them. As she fought to get away from them, there was a sudden flash of bright light, and three words escaped her lips as that light began to shroud her from her assailants' views. Those words were, of course, "Mir Crystal Power."

The bright light that began to shroud her forced her assailants to let her go so that they could shield their eyes from its brightness. They began to cower, as soon as they let her go, and tried to get away from her at least a little bit. But their escapes were blocked by the now-present Scouts Skyhorse, Renaissance, and Trinity, and by their currently-around animal allies. Which, in fact, didn't yet include Vladephrad, if it actually would.

When Tatiana was fully Mir here, she soon shouted, "Attempting to steal the peace of an innocent, and attempting to abduct an innocent, is most certainly not right! So say I, Sailor Mir, Sailor of Peace! For that, you all shall die, God willing! Prepare to meet the vengeance of Sailor Mir and her fellow Scouts! Feel free to introduce yourselves to these unfortunate people, if you wish, Sailor Scouts."

"Sailor Skyhorse, Sailor of Celestial Protection!"

"Sailor Renaissance, Sailor of Spirit and Soul's Rebirth!"

"Sailor Trinity, Sailor of Inspiration!"

After the Scouts then introduced themselves, the would-be abductors tried to fight the Scouts and their animal allies with whatever things they could use against them. And they did that here as they also tried to get to their vehicle parked a little ways away from the school's main building. They soon were able to grab some pipes and assorted guns to try to use at the present time against the Scouts and their allies. But their attempts to fight against their current opponents well enough generally proved useless, before too much longer here. Especially after several of the Scouts sliced their guns and pipes into quite worthless weapons to them here.

The would-be abductors, however, did somehow manage to inflict at least a few injuries on the Scouts and/or their allies before their guns and pipes were rendered quite useless to them here. But they all still lost against the Scouts and their allies here. Most especially after Vladephrad and Isaiah began tearing into them full-bore with their talons, claws, beaks, and teeth, in fact. By the time that they were all either killed or incapacitated, then, at least a dozen Arab males were lying on the ground within about a hundred or so yards from where Tatiana's car had been parked earlier. If not even more than that, in actual reality. And by the time that the police and several emergency medical personnel eventually showed up in the area of the battle, all but two of them were dead, due to injuries inflicted on them in the battle by their opponents. Those two were soon taken into police custody, after a short time at a hospital for them, if necessary, before they were taken to jail, for that matter.

The police and the emergency people attended to all the injured and dead near enough to Tatiana's car. Including, of course, the just-injured Scouts and their animal allies. Trinity and Renaissance had been hit by some bullets from the Arabs' guns. But those bullets hadn't hit in areas that were particularly life-threatening for either of them, in fact. Trinity had taken eight bullets of various sizes and makes in her left arm and left upper leg, all of which were removed fairly easily, in time. While Renaissance had actually been hit two times in and near her left shoulder. One bullet lodged just under Ren's left collar bone, from the front, somewhat deep in one of the muscles there in front of the scapula. And the other lodged near the base of the left side of Ren's neck, somewhat near an artery, but not too near to one, after entering from that side of her. Both of the bullets that hit and wounded Ren were at least a little harder for the doctors to remove from where they'd hit her than the bullets that'd hit Trinity earlier. But not impossible at all to remove for any of them, in fact.

The Scouts all somehow held their transformations active, at least until they were alone with each other in a hospital elsewhere in the area. That then happened sometime around local midnight, after Skyhorse had called her parents to let them know that a few of her friends had been attacked by would-be abductors. Where needed, she also called Kiena and Mary's relatives, of course. She told them only what they each needed to know, for the obvious reasons. Kiena and Mary's relatives generally said that they'd trust her to look after her friends for as long as she needed to, if and whenever possible.

With that said, she soon hung up on them all here. When it was safe enough for her and her fellow Scouts to power down completely, then, Skyhorse had her fellow Scouts do so along with her. But only when it was safe enough for them all to do that here, for the obvious reasons. After they all powered down, Sylvia, Kiena, and Mary finally learned that Tatiana was actually also Sailor Mir.

"You're Sailor Mir, Tatiana? How long were you going to keep that information secret from us?" asked Sylvia, when it was safe enough for her to do so at the current time.

"As long as I didn't know exactly who you each were in your both your Scout and your civilian states, and as long as I thought it wasn't safe enough to reveal my civilian state to you, at least, I believe, Sylvia. I'm sorry if my not telling you I was a Scout bothers you," answered Tatiana, as she brought a cup of water over to Kiena as she lay in her current hospital bed.

"You could have told us earlier, I think, that you were also a Sailor Scout, Tatiana," said Kiena, as she reached for the cup of water that Tatiana then held here.

"And potentially risk other people's safety, without cause? I don't think that would've been a very logical thing to do, Kiena. Especially since I only learned I was a Scout the first day I fought alongside you in battle, thanks to my new dog."

"I see. Well, I suppose you're right, then, Tatiana. No sense in risking people's safety at all if you can possibly avoid it at all. But it would have been nice to know that you were a Scout when we had that slumber party at Sylvia's."

"I didn't have my dog then, Kiena. And I had no idea I was actually going to become one then, or that I would get a dog for myself, for that matter."

Kiena thought about that, and then asked, "Sylvia, when did Tatiana get her dog, as far as you know?"

"About a week after our battle at the pet store, I believe."

"So sometime around the end of last month, Sylvia?" asked Mary. Mary began fingering the eight bullets that the doctors had removed from her arm and leg earlier, which were now on a necklace of some sort that'd been made after their removal. Trinity had asked one of the nurses who'd helped doctors with her operation to try to make a necklace of some sort incorporating those bullets as parts of it. And she did that almost immediately after coming out of her operation to remove them from her body. Of course, before they could be put on a necklace of some sort, the bullets had to be cleaned of anything that might remain which could possibly pose problems for her in the future, for the obvious reasons.

"Yes, Mary, about that time, as far as I know."

Kiena asked Sylvia to bring her the two bullets that doctors had removed from her earlier. They were then sitting next to a television elsewhere in Kiena and Mary's hospital room. Both girls had been brought to the same hospital room after their operations, even while still in their respective Scout states.

As for any or all of the Scouts' animal allies, they'd somehow all not suffered any injuries sufficient enough to require them to spend any time at an animal hospital. Which was quite fortunate enough for them all at the current time. They were soon left to their own devices, and they all made their ways back to any of their respective lodgings, wherever they might happen to be, elsewhere in the Jerusalem area of Israel. Serenade, for instance, went back to Sweet Musicalisti's grounds, while Isaiah went to the cavern, and Vladephrad to Tatiana's lodgings.

Sylvia retrieved the requested bullets, and handed them to Kiena, who then looked them over briefly. After a while, Kiena asked, "Sylvia, do you think that I could have these bullets incorporated into a pair of earrings or something somehow?"

"Why, Kiena?"

"As a permanent reminder of this battle, as I'm sure that Mary wants to do with her newest necklace, Sylvia."

"I don't know if I'd want to keep such things around me if I didn't have to, Kiena," commented Sylvia. "I just think it at least a little bit weird for someone to keep such things for themselves after having them removed from their bodies. Do you understand where I'm coming from here well enough, by any chance at all?"

"Sure I do, Sylvia. But if we have such reminders near us whenever possible, it might remind us that our enemies generally are playing for keeps, and not just for fun. Whether or not they're simple humans, in fact, I think that's often proven to be the case for them since we each became Scouts, at least. If not even longer than that. So I believe that's why Mary and I want to keep permanent reminders of this battle around us, if and whenever possible, in the future."

"Do as you wish, then, Kiena. But please be careful, as well, if and whenever you might actually wear such reminders in your lives, just the same. That's if you both can be, of course."

The four young women conversed a little while longer with each other as needed, before Tatiana and Sylvia said they had other things to do at the current time. They said that they'd be back to visit Kiena and Mary later, if and whenever they got the chance to do so then. Both Kiena and Mary wished them both good nights, before Tatiana and Sylvia left them alone again.

Sylvia gave Tatiana a ride back to her car, and Tatiana soon parted from Sylvia again. But not before Sylvia said, "We have much to discuss among ourselves now, as I'm sure you might reasonably expect, of course, Tatiana."

"I'll look forward to it, if and when we get the chance to discuss all the necessary things with each other, Sylvia."

"Remember, you must not reveal our civilian identities to anyone else now, of course."

"Obviously, Sylvia. Obviously. Well, I'll see you later, then."

Without another word being exchanged between them both here, the two of them parted, just as soon it was sufficiently safe for them both to do that here. Tatiana left Sylvia's van, and returned directly back to her own current residence. After Tatiana was far enough away from Sylvia's van, Sylvia started up her van again, and returned to Wakefield Castle for the rest of the night, stopping only once on the way back there. And she only stopped at a gas station long enough to put some gas in her van and pick up some rolls for herself and the rest of her family.

She arrived home sometime around 1:50 in the morning, more or less, and went almost immediately to her bed for the rest of the night. After changing into some appropriate sleepwear, she then spent about ten or so minutes making an entry in her personal journal about things that'd happened to her and others close enough to her since the last time she'd made an entry in it. After she felt she'd put enough into her personal journal at the present time, she returned it to its usual hiding place, and turned out all her lights. Two minutes after doing that, at most, she was quite soundly asleep again in her bed. And she was again unknowingly dreaming more about her time in the Silver Millennium, in fact. She actually dreamed for most of the night about her long-ago time in the Silver Millennium without even realizing it, by the way. And she did just that in her bed before she eventually woke up again in it sometime around 7:15 in the morning of Tuesday, December 18, 1990.

* * *

Two days later, on Thursday, Sylvia met up with Rolando, and was able to give him whatever information he'd need to go with her to at least one dance in the local area. He took that information, and thanked her for it. Rolando said that he'd take her to the dance or dances in question then. When he did so, Sylvia asked him, "Have you been able to line up enough other males to go with friends or acquaintances of mine yet, by any chance, Mr. Volois?" She asked him that while they were still on the school grounds of DBJHS, in fact.

"I have been able to do that. Who still needs dates for the dance, Miss Wakefield?"

"It seems that Sonja Darram, Ashley Cornale, Mary Josephus, Naomi Abraham, Joelle Abraham, Etana Warren, Selena Moon, Amy Meredith, and Andrea Kelly, at least, need dates for the dance."

"And what about Misses McCall and Kisbell?"

"It seems that Miss McCall is going to be going with her boyfriend, but she doesn't know that yet. As for Miss Kisbell, they agreed to go with your friend James, don't you remember?"

"Oh, I forgot that was going to be the case for Miss Kisbell and Mr. Selannis. How do you know that Miss McCall's boyfriend is going with her to at least one dance?"

"He called me just before I left for school today. He told me not to tell Miss McCall that he'd be showing up around her very soon. Of course, I promised not to tell her, and spoil the surprise. She's not expecting anyone to take her to the dance as a date, in fact."

"I see. And why did you do that?"

"Because I want it to be a total surprise, just as he does. She hasn't seen him for some time, and they need to be with each other."

"I see. And what do you think her reaction will be when she sees him?"

"If past experience is any indication, Miss McCall will be quite ecstatic, if I remember things well enough, at least as they pertain to them both. As they usually are after they're separated from each other for a significant enough amount of time, I think."

"So how long have they evidently been a couple, so to speak?"

"About three years, more or less, if my memory serves me well enough here and now, Mr. Volois. They started seeing each other romantically, I believe, shortly after he protected her from a bully in a Bristol-area mall. I don't know if their relationship will eventually lead to marriage, but I fully expect that it very well might do so in the future, someday."

The two of them conversed just a little while longer with each other, and eventually parted from each other when necessary. They didn't see each other the rest of the school day, generally, if and whenever they didn't have to. When the school day ended, they eventually went back to their respective residences for at least a little while. If not for the rest of the time between then and when their next school day would begin. Especially Sylvia, in fact. Sylvia went straight back to Wakefield Castle, and worked on her homework for a while in her room.

She was still in her room working on her homework when Becky came into it and brought her some lemonade and rolls. Becky asked, as soon as she sat down on Sylvia's bed, with Sylvia's permission, "How are you, Sylvia?"

"Fine. Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering. Did you hear that two of the Sailor Scouts were wounded a couple of nights ago near your school, by any chance?"

"Not really. There was some buzz about it in school the past day or two, but nothing major, if I remember correctly." Of course, Sylvia knew the whole story about the woundings, but she couldn't tell Becky that, for the obvious reasons.

"The Scouts and their allies defeated a bunch of would-be Arab abductors, and sent a few of them at least indirectly to jail, from what I heard earlier in school through some of my friends, Sylvia."

"Did they? Even while still hurt in the battle?"

"Yes, even while they were. Mir and Skyhorse, for instance, were quite lethal to them, it seems. Also it seems that an eagle and a dog were too. I don't really know whose eagle and dog were actually part of the fight, but they both got at least some licks in on those would-be Arab abductors, if not a lot of them. I heard that Renaissance and Trinity were wounded in the battle by at least one or two bullets each, for that matter. For some reason, the Pilgrim never showed during the battle, and I'm wondering why."

"Perhaps the Pilgrim was too far away to help at that time. And besides, for all we know, the last battle that he'd helped the Scouts in could very well have kept him from helping well enough in this battle that you're speaking of here, Becky. Only God knows for sure why the Pilgrim never showed during the battle, in fact. I'm sure that there was a good enough reason why he didn't appear to help the Scouts during that battle. Though I'm not sure what it might be yet, if I ever will know that well enough in my life, somehow."

Sometime around 5, after at least half an hour of spending time with Becky in her room, Sylvia's phone rang. It was Tatiana. Sylvia conversed briefly with Tatiana here, saying very little in response to whatever she was hearing from Tatiana, before hanging up her phone again. Moments later, Sylvia said, "That was Tatiana. Seems she needs my help with a dress she or at least one other girl would like to wear to at least one holiday party, if not more than one, at least. I'll have to continue this conversation with you another time. I wish I didn't have to go right now, for there's still quite a bit of homework to do here now, before tomorrow, but I do."

"Be careful. I've started seeing reports that the Negaverse might be getting close to finding out at least one of the Scouts' civilian identities, and you seem to look at least a little bit like one of their current targets. As well as at least one of the targets of assorted Arab terrorist groups, for that matter. I don't want to have to attend a funeral for you at all in my life, if I never have to, Sylvia."

"I understand. Is there anything you want or need me to pick up, then, while I'm out elsewhere in the local area, Becky?"

"Not that I can think of at the current time. Just be careful, please. I don't want to have to hear about you on the news or read about something that's happened to you or your friends, if I don't have to, of course."

"I'm always as careful as I can be, whenever I'm out there in the local area, and away from home here, Becky. God will protect me and others with me, I'm sure. Besides, if something does happen to me, at least, I happen to know where I'll be spending forever, I think."

"Well, I don't want you to go there before your time, if you must eventually go there before Jesus comes to the Earth again."

"Understood. But what's going to happen is going to happen. Whether we want it to or not, things will happen as they might, Becky."

Moments later, then, without another word being exchanged between them both, Sylvia vacated her room, followed shortly by Becky. As Sylvia set off for Tatiana's dorm, Becky went elsewhere in Wakefield Castle, as the need or desire then struck her here.

Sylvia arrived at Tatiana's dorm, and soon entered her friend's rooms there. At the time that she did that, Tatiana was with one or two of her friends, and a younger cousin of one of them. This younger cousin, in fact, was Rachel Aaron. This Rachel Aaron was about Selena's age, more or less, and she was to be the Jerusalem Zone's version of Sailor Mars in the future. Though nobody yet knew that in their lives at all. Not even Tatiana, for that matter.

Rachel Aaron was currently in a good deal of red and purple, and Tatiana and others were trying to help her get ready for at least one dance in the very near future. Tatiana eventually introduced her to Sylvia. And when they first touched each other's hands here, Sylvia got the strange feeling that she'd once known this same girl by another name long before. Though she didn't know why just yet, of course.

The two girls soon got to talking with each other, and often with Tatiana, as they tried to make sure that Rachel was sufficiently ready for at least one dance in the near future. Sylvia said, all of a sudden, as if out of nowhere, "Miss Aaron, you should wear a lot of red and/or purple in the future, if and whenever possible. Those colors often will look rather good on you, I think. Especially red, for that matter."

"How do you know this for sure?"

"I'm not sure. I just know somehow that those colors might quite often look great on you, Miss Aaron."

"I see. What else can you tell me about myself, then, if you know this here well enough?"

"You happen to actually attend another school in the area. The name of which currently escapes me here. And in your spare time, you often sing in a church choir with several nearby churches and things. You live with your grandfather in a house near Christ Church, if I'm not mistaken. Your mother died when you were young. Your father is rarely around you."

"All true. But how do you know all this stuff about me, Miss Wakefield?"

"I don't know for sure. Maybe the Holy Spirit has something to do with it. I can't possibly explain it any other way than that, I think, well enough."

"Are you sure you never read about me before in the papers, for instance?"

"I've never heard about you before today, as far as I know, Miss Aaron. If that's so, then only God could have told me this information through His Holy Spirit."

"I see. And can you tell me if we'll often see each other in the future yet?"

"I can't, for sure. But I still suspect that we will, for some reason or another."

Eventually, Rachel was sufficiently outfitted for at least one dance, if not more than one dance, in the very near future. After that was established, everyone started helping Tatiana do the same, if and wherever necessary. This get-together at Tatiana's lasted until about 7:30 in the evening, in fact. It was interrupted, in time, by some beeping from Tatiana and Sylvia's lockets while they were alone in Tatiana's kitchen with each other. The beeping came from Serenade and Isaiah trying to get in contact with Tatiana and Sylvia now, by the way.

As soon as it was safe enough for them both to talk to their animal allies, Sylvia and Tatiana did so very quietly, of course. They conversed briefly with them, and then signed off as needed through their lockets. They soon told their friends and other acquaintances that they just remembered they'd forgotten some things back at their schools, for instance. Even if that wasn't actually the case for them both, they still did that, for the obvious reasons, of course.

When they were far enough away from Tatiana's dorm, and in a safe enough place to power up, they both did so. After powering up, they then went to the library, where six Negaverse monsters were beginning to drain energy from assorted library personnel and patrons. As soon as they arrived, they saw that they might have some quite difficult work to do in order to deal with those monsters. For Nephlyte had obviously taken notes about previous Arab and Negaverse battles against the Scouts, and had begun to try to come up with a suitable enough defense to work against Mir's Bear Claw Phasing Strike attack of late. And at least as of the current time, neither Renaissance nor Trinity was sufficiently recovered from their most recent Scouting battle to fight, for that matter. So unless the Scouts had enough suitably good help from many others, it wasn't likely going to be very easy for them to deal with this current disturbance, of course.

The Scouts eventually showed themselves to the monsters, and engaged them. The first two monsters were much easier to deal with than the other monsters were for them both. Nephlyte used them as test subjects for an idea he was then working on here. They gave Skyhorse and Mir a little trouble, but not too much, before they were dealt with as needed here. However, the other four monsters soon became at least 200, if not more, thanks to some original ideas that Nephlyte had recently come up with. It then took the Scouts at least a good hour, if not longer than that, to get the numbers of their opponents back down to about fifty or so. And by that time, they were finally reinforced sufficiently well by their animal allies, the Pilgrim, several civilians, and a mysterious woman in a mask and a long nearly ground-length formal dress. This woman wore a light purple mask that covered her upper face, except for her eyes, which were round blue ones, for that matter. And her dress appeared somewhat lavender or white from about fifty yards away as she stood on a statue outside the library's main entrance/exit. Most of the activity in the battle was still taking place inside the library, but it was starting to move outside of it. That was because the Scouts were now fighting their way out of the library with the help of several people and animals that'd just begun to aid them there. The monsters didn't really want to be forced out of the library, of course. But they were being forced out of it, just the same.

The police and IDF people weren't yet available for battle in the area, if they would eventually be. For they were currently attending to some terrorist-related trouble that had arisen just after Skyhorse and Mir began fighting in and around the library, in fact. The Scouts and their unlikely allies soon killed a few more of the monsters trying to wreak havoc in and around the library. The masked woman in purple and/or white helped as well, once she could join the battle well enough somehow, by using assorted martial arts and improvised weapons, against those monsters. Eventually, the monsters could no longer increase their numbers, and began diminishing in them as they were killed in the battle.

Nephlyte did what he could to still continue the battle against the Scouts and their current allies, whether those allies were now likely or unlikely ones. But eventually, not even he could keep enough of the monsters sufficiently able to fight here. And he then began recalling several of them as best and as quickly as he could away from the battle. He was able to save several of the monsters for potential further battles against the Scouts, but not more than about half a dozen of his strongest and best ones that he'd committed to the battle, in fact. Nephlyte soon retreated with the monsters that he could save back to his current base in the area, and left the corpses of those monsters behind that he couldn't. He didn't want to have to do that, of course. But he wanted to stay alive to fight another day, if at all possible, against the Scouts, for the obvious reasons. So he did so here, just the same.

Nephlyte realized that Queen Beryl would likely not be very happy with him for actually losing so many of his monsters to the present Scouts and their allies. But that was a chance that he still knew that he'd have to take now. He made it back to his current headquarters in the area with his surviving monsters a little while after leaving the area of the library with them all, with no more trouble from anyone or anything at all. After he got back there with them all, he soon put them all in certain places where they could each try to heal from their various hurts and things that they'd suffered during that battle they'd just participated in. After he did that, he eventually retired to his sleeping area in his headquarters for a while, for the obvious reasons, of course. And he stayed there for as long as he then felt the need or desire for him to stay there well enough.

After the current battle was sufficiently and undoubtedly over once and for all, the Scouts attended to and repaired, whenever possible, all the battle damage that'd resulted from the monsters' presence in and around the library here. There was some damage that couldn't exactly be repaired right away, in fact. But the currently-present Scouts still did what they then could to attend to, and repair, such damage here, just the same. If there actually had been at least two more Scouts in the immediate area of the battle, they might have been able to repair more of it easily enough. Or prevent more of it, for that matter. But with Renaissance and Trinity currently out of action, at least in terms of their fighting as Scouts, that meant that at least some of the related battle damage would have to be attended to and repaired later, if at all possible, of course.

After the battle was over in and around the area of the library, then, the Scouts and their animal allies left it, as did the Pilgrim, strangely enough. And they began heading toward where the police and many IDF personnel were still trying to deal with the terrorist-related situation going on elsewhere in the Jerusalem local area. Granted, they were now quite tired from having to fight the Negaverse-related monsters in and near the library, for the obvious reasons. But their night of combat activity was apparently not yet done, after they learned that the police and IDF people were still trying to deal with the terrorists now causing trouble in the local area.

The Pilgrim didn't leave the Sailor Scouts and their animal allies alone again after the battle in and around the library, as he'd often been known to do in the past, when they left that area of Jerusalem. Instead, contrary to his usual pattern of activity after a battle, he stayed with them. He still hadn't killed any other sentient enough being, but that might not always be the case for him, in fact. Only time would tell, of course, if it'd always remain the case for him in his life. Either as the civilian named Rolando Volois or as the yet-unknowing superhero "The Pilgrim," whatever the case might ever be for him in it, by the way.

After at least another ten minutes or so had passed for them all, they arrived near _PPP_'s main entrance/exit point. When the Scouts and their allies showed up in the area, the police and several IDF people said, "There seem to be about a hundred patrons and restaurant/arcade personnel being held by about two dozen terrorists, as far as we currently can tell. That's if the terrorists aren't lying to us, of course."

"Okay. Since when have they held the hostages?" asked Skyhorse, a few moments after their arrival outside of _PPP_.

"About the time that you were engaging Negaverse monsters near and in the library, Skyhorse, in fact. I think they timed it so that you'd not be in the way for at least a little while due to one of the Negaverse's periodic attacks."

"I don't think they actually are working together, Captain Shaminski," said Skyhorse to a Jerusalem police captain. "I think, though, that the terrorists have learned to try to cause trouble only when we're otherwise occupied with Negaverse activity, if and whenever possible. It can't be random chance that they chose to take more hostages when we were otherwise occupied. And while two of us aren't presently able to fight, due to our recent battle against other terrorists in the area, for that matter."

"Nor do I, Sailor Skyhorse," said Captain Gabriel Shaminski, who was a Polish-born Jew of the Reformed variety. Reformed in the sense of the usual divisions of Jewish religious practice, for that matter. He was now about 55 years old, and had a bit of a graying beard with no moustache for himself. He and his family had all immigrated to Israel not long after Israel's refounding, while he was still a pre-teen, after having hidden out from the Nazis and their allies for at least a few years in the United States. He'd spent most, if not all, of his life in Israel ever since, and had married someone who'd been born in Austria and survived time in various death camps the Nazis had established in territory they'd held during World War II. He was now the biological father of several children in his life, and the adoptive father of twenty other children. Captain Shaminski had recently become a grandfather for the first time. He would eventually come to spend a good deal of time with the Scouts and their allies in the future, if at all possible. For just that day, he'd been assigned as a liaison to them along with several others.

Skyhorse, Mir, the Pilgrim, and several other people conversed for a little while with Captain Shaminski here, before coming up with a plan that might work here. Skyhorse didn't like the idea much, but it would require that certain people would have to potentially put themselves in quite considerable amounts of danger among the police and/or soldiers, due to the current inability of Renaissance and Trinity to fight anyone well enough. It might require a good number of those people to do that, but it was the best plan that any of them could come up with on rather short notice. About two dozen soldiers from a group of about 300 volunteered for what might be a very risky task here, more or less, once the risks were explained to them well enough. They were soon outfitted as best as they could be at the current time, given the current situation, and they soon took up certain positions all around the restaurant/arcade as they'd just been assigned to here.

When everyone else was as ready as they could currently be here, a few signals were given as needed. And everyone began doing whatever they then needed to do here. The terrorists fell for the distraction that the volunteers had been asked to provide to at least some degree, though not entirely. However, enough terrorists did so to allow other people, including Skyhorse, Mir, the Pilgrim, and many others to enter the restaurant/arcade, and begin trying to rescue the hostages from there. Bullets and other projectiles periodically shot all over the area of the restaurant, of course, in the process of people moving into and out of the place, for the obvious reasons. Several civilians were unavoidably hit, especially after things got much harder to see there, in fact. Some more seriously than others, quite naturally enough. Nobody among the civilians had been killed, at least as of yet. But several of them had still been hit by assorted things flying through the place for whatever reason or reasons that they might then be doing that here.

It took all the Scouts and their allies about twenty minutes or so, after moving toward the restaurant/arcade, to finally eliminate or sufficiently incapacitate the Arab terrorists that'd taken hostages there well enough. No fatalities had occurred among the civilians in the place, fortunately enough. Or at least not up until the place was completely secured by the necessary people, of course. However, several civilians were now not in very good shape, due to the assorted things that'd been flying through the place during the fight, in fact.

After the place was completely secured as needed, the emergency people moved in, and began to attend to the necessary people in the required ways. It was now just about 11:35 pm local time, in fact, when they did so. For about the next ten to fifteen minutes, then, the Scouts and their allies helped out if and wherever possible. But eventually, they had to leave the area again, before they'd no longer be able to maintain their respective transformations well enough, if they had any. This, of course, was for all the obvious reasons here, no doubt.

They all left the area of the restaurant/arcade again by about midnight local time, at the very latest. When they were all far enough away from the area, and in safe enough places to do so, they all powered down, if they could then do so well enough. After they did that well enough to suit themselves enough, they all eventually returned to their respective residences in the local area, wherever they might actually be at present. Supposing that they could do that in the first place, quite naturally enough.

Sylvia arrived home by 1 in the morning local time, after first checking on Kiena and Mary in their hospital room. They were both quite fine, when compared to how they'd been right after they'd been shot near Tatiana's car. Before Sylvia parted from them both, Kiena said, "Good work, Sylvia, in your latest two battles. We both wish we could have been able to fight alongside you in them, of course."

"Just get better, and perhaps you'll both be able to do that very soon. Oh, and by the way, Rolando's working on lining you up some dates for the near future, if I remember things well enough here."

"That's if we don't have any, right?" asked Mary.

"Right, Mary." Sylvia eventually parted from them, as already stated, when the need or desire for her to do that arose for her here. And she went straight home after leaving Kiena and Mary alone again in their current hospital room.

She stayed up for only about another half hour or so after arriving back at Wakefield Castle, finishing up the rest of her homework before she retired to her bed for the rest of the night. Sylvia eventually changed into some sleepwear after briefly writing in her journal again, and was quite soundly asleep again in her bed by no later than 1:40 am local time on Friday, December 21, 1990. Not long after she was quite soundly asleep there to a sufficient enough degree, she was again dreaming unknowingly about the Silver Millennium. But that'd not remain the case for her forever, if it could possibly be avoided at all, in fact.


	18. Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

The following day, it was Saturday, December 22, 1990. Sylvia was then with Kiena and Mary, who had just been released from the hospital that morning. It was now just after 10:30 in the morning, and Sylvia was with them in the Athletic Club that she'd first knowingly met Kiena at about three months before. She then had gone there at their request with them, so as to monitor them while they tried to get back in shape after having to spend most of the last few days or so lying down in their hospital beds earlier. They started working out together with light weights and things, and then they eventually went swimming in a pool elsewhere in the Athletic Club, after they'd lifted things for a while. Of course, Sylvia monitored them very closely as they were with her there, for the obvious reasons.

The three of them worked out as they saw fit in the Athletic Club for at least an hour or two, if not longer. They only stopped working out once they were sufficiently hungry and thirsty again in their lives. And that happened only after about noon or so local time, in fact.

After they got that way, they soon took some showers near each other, and changed into more casual clothes for themselves. That done, they soon went to a cafeteria area elsewhere in the Athletic Club with each other. And they ordered themselves some lunch items there. It took them all about an hour, more or less, to have enough food and drink to satisfy them enough at the current time. After they did so, finally, they left the cafeteria and the Athletic Club behind in short order, when the need or desire arose for them in their lives.

As Sylvia was then bringing them both back to their respective residences in the area, Kiena said, "I think we might be able to fight in the next battle, Sylvia."

"You've just been released from the hospital, Kiena. I don't want to see you back in it or in the morgue in the near future, if I don't have to."

"When will you let us fight, then?" asked Kiena, with a bit of a frown then on her face.

"When I feel you're sufficiently able to do that again, Kiena. If you two can prove that you're sufficiently recovered from your last battle, then perhaps you can fight again."

"You seem to forget that we're Scouts, Sylvia." Mary said this in sort of a pouting manner, by the way.

"No, I haven't forgotten that, Mary. But I'm the leader, at least as of the present time, and I don't want to lose anyone under me in the group if I don't have to. Your various wounds could very well have each been much more serious than they were, you two. I'll see about setting up a training session or two today or tomorrow, if I can, and let you try to prove that you're both sufficiently healed and recovered from your latest battle as Scouts. But until you can both prove yourselves well enough to me and our animal allies, I'm going to have to say that you can't actively fight in any Scout battles, if it can possibly be avoided at all." She gave her a look which she hoped would show Mary and Kiena that she understood where they were both coming from in their lives here.

"But what if you need our help?" asked Kiena.

"Then you can try to aid us from our base in the cavern, I think. I'm sure you might be able to monitor things well enough from there, and send us things as needed, if situations might require you to. And besides, I want to keep you in reserve for a while, just in case something shows up that we can't handle well enough at any time. I have a feeling that there might soon be at least one or two more Scouts joining our group in the near future, as a matter of fact. I don't know why I do, at least not yet, but I still think that might prove to be the case for us all, Kiena."

"Okay, Sylvia. Do you know the identities yet of these Scouts well enough?"

"No, of course I don't, Kiena. But I still think that they'll have at least something to do with this nation, for some yet-unknown reason, just the same."

"And what of our enemies?" asked Mary.

"Hopefully, they'll decide to give us at least some peace and quiet for a while, so that we don't have to fight them again in the near future. But knowing assorted Arab terrorist groups, they might not want to do that here, of course. As for our Negaverse enemies, perhaps they'll leave us alone as well, considering that we've basically defeated them in any battle that we've fought against them and their monsters, Mary."

"If they all do so, how much time do you think we'll have to prepare for their next attacks before they act up again?" asked Kiena, as they pulled up outside Mary's building.

"Hopefully, they won't act up again for at least a week or two after New Year's Day. If not even longer than that, of course, Kiena." Mary soon began exiting Sylvia's van, so that she could go inside her apartment building again for the first time in at least a few days. She gathered up all her currently-available things, and soon left Sylvia's van behind again, after saying goodbye for a while to Kiena and Sylvia here well enough.

After Mary was out of sight enough, Sylvia soon took Kiena home, where the same sort of thing eventually happened for her as well. When Kiena was out of sight enough here for Sylvia, Sylvia then drove away from her residence, and began patrolling in the area all by herself. She wasn't actually expecting any trouble from anyone or anything in the near future, for all the obvious reasons. But she still remained quite cautious, whenever possible, as she patrolled by herself in the local area, in fact.

* * *

Some length of time later, then, Kiena and Mary went to the cavern with each other, after both having slept in their respective beds for a while. Kiena drove to Mary's in "Spiritseeker," and Mary soon stashed her bike in it as needed. They arrived at the cavern sometime around 6 or so in the evening, while they were still together with each other. And they soon found Sylvia sitting behind one of the computers there, studying some video recordings of certain recent battles that at least one of the Scouts had participated in elsewhere in the local area. She was also with Isaiah, Serenade, Tatiana, and Vladephrad when they showed up near enough to her in the cavern, in fact.

As they came into the part of the cavern that everyone else was in at the current time, Kiena heard Tatiana ask Sylvia, "Do you think Selena, Amy, Rachel, Etana, and Andrea, at least, will eventually join our group as Scouts, somehow?"

"I'd not be very surprised if that ever was the case for any or all of them. I think I can also sort of recognize the face of Andrea's manager at least a little bit better now, for that matter. She seems to be someone I once knew at great length some time long ago. My dreams were much clearer than they normally have been since I first became a Scout. While I can't yet identify the person from the Silver Millennium who might have had a face sort of like the one of Andrea's manager, I think I have a better idea of who she might have been. I've narrowed down the possibilities to about half a dozen or so, I believe, out of maybe several thousand women and girls, at least, if not more than that in either respect."

Kiena and Mary then chose that moment to appear to their fellow Scouts and their allies. Kiena said, "I see. And I wonder if you expect to identify her by your next birthday in the next month or so, Sylvia."

"God willing, I might just do that, Kiena," said Sylvia, just as soon as she recognized the speaker's voice and had turned to face them well enough. Even as she also paused the particular currently-playing battle record's playback here as she did that.

"By that time, do you expect the other Scouts you mentioned to start to appear well enough, then, Sylvia?" asked Mary, now quite curious about the current subject of discussion here.

"I'd not be very surprised, Mary, to tell you the truth." Sylvia sipped some apple juice in a cup near her, just after answering Mary's question.

"And if they do, do you think you'll have to give up overall command of the Scouts in time, Sylvia?" asked Tatiana.

"Only time will tell, Tatiana. Only time will tell. If that's how things will have to be, then so be it. But if not, then so be that instead."

Around 6:30 or so in the evening, then, the Scouts went to another part of the cavern in which they sometimes trained in with each other. And so did their animal allies, for that matter. When they were all ready to do whatever they then wanted or needed to do here, Sylvia and the rest of the Scouts powered up, under the quite watchful eyes of their animal allies. First, Sylvia powered up. Second, Kiena did. Third, Mary did. And last, Tatiana did. After Tatiana became Mir, then, that meant that Skyhorse, Renaissance, Trinity, and Mir were present where Sylvia, Kiena, Mary, and Tatiana had been mere moments before.

They all trained with each other for a while, until Skyhorse and their animal allies had thought they'd seen enough at the current time. After that happened, Skyhorse said, "You and Trinity will both need to train some more before you can fight our actual enemies as Scouts again, it seems, Ren. You didn't do quite as well at avoiding being hit by automated attacks as you both often do in our training sessions. You'll have to do better before I can clear you both for active fighting against our enemies, it seems. I don't want to have to keep you on the sidelines, if I don't have to. But you're both still rusty and not fully recovered from your recent battle injuries. Or at least not enough, as far as I can currently tell here, you two. Perhaps in a few days or so, I can clear you for active combat again. But at the moment, at least, I can't, for the obvious reasons, girls. I wish I could. But I can't, and won't. At least not right now, anyway."

"That's not fair, Skyhorse," said Trinity.

"I'm sorry if you both think that's the case right now. But until I see otherwise, I have no choice but to keep you out of the active fight, in terms of your front-line presence against our enemies, whoever they might be, girls. Mir, our animal allies, and anyone else who finds themselves on our side of things will have to shoulder more of the load, when it comes to dealing with our enemies. As will I, at least until you both are back to your full combat strengths."

"That might leave you short-handed for a while, you know," said Renaissance.

"I realize that, Ren. But that's just how things apparently are for us here and now. Whether we might like things to be that way or not, that's how things seem to be for us now, just the same. Don't worry, girls. You'll get your chances to actively fight again as Scouts, soon enough, I think. God willing, of course."

Rather reluctantly, at least on both Trinity and Ren's parts, in fact, they soon acceded to her wishes about the current situation. But they both didn't like the idea of even having to do that here, for all the obvious reasons, of course. And just to make sure that they did so, Skyhorse had them give her their power lockets briefly, once they'd all powered down to their respective civilian states. When they gave her their lockets briefly, she drained some energy from both of them and put it in her own locket for the time being. She took just enough energy from both power lockets to make it temporarily impossible for them to power up into their Scout states whenever they weren't training as such with anyone else. Such as herself, for example.

She would store that energy for future retrieval and possible use while they were both sufficiently unable to use it well enough under normal enough circumstances. And when she finally felt they were sufficiently able to train and/or fight well enough as Scouts, she would again return sufficient amounts of energy to their respective power lockets later, if and whenever possible. Sylvia hoped that she'd not have to hold their energy long inside her locket, of course, for all the obvious reasons. But if she had to do so, in order to keep them both from powering up too easily before they were able to fight well enough, then she'd do so in the future, if and whenever possible. At least while she was still in overall command of their Scout group, if she'd not always be in overall command of it, anyway.

Eventually, everyone, including the animals, left the cavern behind in the necessary manners for elsewhere in the local area. The area in and around the cavern was completely empty again by 8:45 pm local time, in fact. Kiena took Mary back to her residence, sometime after that time, and certainly by 9:15 pm, at the very latest. Then Kiena returned to her own family's residence for the rest of the night, for that matter, arriving back there by no later than about 9:30 pm, with no unnecessary stops after she'd dropped Mary off where needed.

Kiena was in her room by 10, and asleep again by no later than 11, in any case at all. She didn't arise from her bed again for at least nine or ten hours after that. She woke up sometime after her other family members had gone to church in the morning, in fact. They all tried to get her up at least once apiece, of course. But when she wouldn't wake up, they finally went to church without her, hoping that she was all right, for the obvious reasons.

As for Sylvia and everyone else from their group, they eventually returned to each of their respective lodgings, wherever they might be in the local area. Even if it meant such lodgings were in a stall on a farm's complex called "Sweet Musicalisti," of course. And after they parted from each other for the rest of the night, they didn't see each other for at least the next six to eight hours, in any case at all. No matter who they were, that was still the case for each of them in their lives at the present time. All of them were in their respective lodgings for the rest of the night by no later than about 11 pm local time, for that matter. And they were all asleep in those respective lodgings of theirs by local midnight, as well.

* * *

After Sylvia and the rest of her family returned from their attending of church on Sunday, elsewhere in the city, they all found themselves at home with each other. They spent most of the time between 12:30 and 2 pm local time with each other, but not all of it. For sometime around 1:35 pm or so, Rolando called Sylvia, and asked her to let her friends know that certain boys he knew were probably going to start picking them up by 6 pm local time, at the very latest. After he told her that, Sylvia soon told her parents and siblings that she was going out again. And that she'd most likely be with her friends for most, if not all, of the rest of the day and/or upcoming night. She also told them not to wait up for her for any reason. Especially because of the facts being that there was no school scheduled for her on the following day, and that there were at least one or two holiday-related dances and things that she was expecting to go to on the current day and/or night to come, for that matter.

They agreed not to wait up for her if they could possibly avoid it at all. With that then said, Sylvia soon gathered up several things of hers, including a dress she'd picked out for herself sometime earlier, and left Wakefield Castle behind here. She patrolled in the area for a while, both as Sylvia and as Skyhorse, before she made her way to several people's residences as needed or desired here. She helped them all get ready to attend at least one, if not more than one, dance with certain people, if she needed to do that at all, by the way. Whether her friends knew those people yet or not, she still did so. After doing that until about 5 pm, she changed into the dress she'd brought along with her from Wakefield Castle. She changed into it at Selena Moon's residence, in fact.

By the time that she was sufficiently ready for the dance she'd be going to with Rolando and others, she had on a dress almost exactly, if not entirely, like a dress that she'd worn to a ball before on the Moon, long before the present time. This dress was mostly pink, gold, and navy blue. It had a mostly light brown and cardinal red sash on it running from her left shoulder to her right hip. There were also thin white and dark green fringes of lace both on the dress and the sash, wherever Sylvia had wanted them to be on those things. Especially on her sash, in fact. And her hair was in two braids once she was sufficiently satisfied with how she then looked in it. As for her power locket, she stored it away in a pocket of a small handbag she'd bought at the same time as the dress in question here that matched her nearly-floor-length dress quite well.

It wasn't identical to the exact dress that she'd worn the night that she'd been first kissed by Rolando at a ball during the Silver Millennium. But it was nearly identical, if not completely identical, to one that she'd worn at a ball no more than a few hours or so after she'd first become a Sailor Scout during it. And both dresses she'd worn at those balls had been made by or with the help of Queen Serenity then, for that matter.

When Selena saw that dress on her, she said, "You look great, Miss Wakefield. Where did you get that dress?"

"I got it primarily at a dress shop elsewhere in the area. And I had some other unused things that I decided to use with it as well, if I could do that here well enough. I added those things, if and whenever possible, to this dress. And the result of my modifications to the dress is what you're now seeing me in here. I have another dress prepared for another occasion which you'll just have to wait to see. For I'm not wearing it tonight, in any case at all."

The two girls talked for a while, until just before Selena and Sylvia's dates arrived at Selena's house to pick them up for the dance that they were going to with each other. About 6 o'clock, then, Rolando arrived at Selena's residence with the young man who'd be her date on the current evening.

After the four young people were in Rolando's vehicle here, Rolando introduced the girls to Selena's blind date. He told them, "Miss Moon, your date tonight at the dance is Darius Raymond. He is about 20 years old, and I know him from playing basketball with him often at the Athletic Club. We're often on the same team as each other, and he attends college at one of the local colleges."

Sylvia looked over Darius, and asked him, "Mr. Raymond, haven't I often seen you in the college library with Tatiana Tereshkova?"

"I know of her, but what makes you think I know her personally?"

"Just a feeling, I suppose you might say. I don't know why I might be thinking this, but I just know that I do." Sylvia, in fact, had just gotten a feeling that she might have once known this same young man a long time ago. But she didn't yet realize that well enough, if she ever would, in her life.

Darius indeed had been present during the Silver Millennium. But never as someone by that name. He had another name then which nobody from this time period could yet remember well enough, for the obvious reasons. He then had been, as a matter of fact, a Japanese Prince by the name of Prince Darien. He actually had been saved somehow by Queen Serenity when the Moon Kingdom fell. But he didn't yet know that in his life. For his memories of that time were still unrevealed to him or to anyone else, for that matter.

He wouldn't begin to remember them, most likely, at least until Sailor Moon finally appeared as a Scout in the local area. Supposing, of course, that he'd not already begun to do so in his life. If he hadn't yet begun to do so in it, that was still at least a few weeks away from happening for him, maybe. If not even longer than that.

"How can that be, Sylvia? You only just met him today, in fact," said Selena.

"As I just said here, Selena, 'I don't know why I might be thinking this, but I just know that I do.' If I knew why, then maybe I could tell you. Maybe I couldn't. I just don't know."

Some time later, then, the four of them arrived at the dance that they were going to with each other. When they got there, at least eleven other couples were present at it with people that any or all of them knew in their lives at least a little bit, if not a lot. Liz was dancing with her boyfriend Thomas. Leila and James were also dancing. Sonja was dancing with a fellow Austrian, and Ashley with a fellow American. As for Kiena, she was with Matthew Jotibular. Mary was then with a boy born in Israel to parents born in the Philippines. Tatiana was, of course, with Sergei. Amy Meredith was present, and she was dancing with a blind date of her own by the name of Gregory Merkinel. Rachel Aaron was dancing with a blind date by the name of Chadwick Martuzalo. Etana Warren was with Kenneth Zumehai. And Andrea Kelly was with someone by the name of Stephanos Korikupheras. As was currently the case with Selena here, Mary, Amy, Rachel, Etana, and Andrea's dates were all blind dates, in fact.

Little did they all know, though, that those dates of theirs might be people that they'd often see in their respective lives for a good deal of time into the future. But that was still unknown, mainly, if not entirely, due to the fact that five or six of the girls now in the couples, at least, were largely unaware of their Silver Millennium pasts. That was if they had any at all in the first place, of course. Kiena, however, had never had such a past, as far as anyone currently knew, in it. Nor had Liz, Leila, Sonja, and Ashley.

Selena had once been the Moon Princess. Amy, Rachel, Etana, and Andrea had been part of her royal Court during it. But they had been known under different names than they went by now, at least in terms of their last names, if not also their first ones. Selena had once been the Moon Princess Serena, with the same last name. Amy had been known as Amy Anderson back in the days of the Silver Millennium. Rachel, Raye Hino. Etana, Lita McKinley. Andrea, Mina Abernathy. But those days were long gone, and long forgotten as well. At least as of the current time, anyway.

And that was how Queen Serenity had wanted it to be for as long as possible in the future, when they were sent into the future from the Moon. Their memories of the Silver Millennium were to remain unrevealed for as long as possible. However, there would come a time, most likely in the near future, where such memories would have to start to surface, if they hadn't already begun to do that for any or all of them.

In fact, through an unexpected occurrence of some sort, at least one version of Queen Serenity had unknowingly made itself to Earth as well, if not more than one. And it, or they, landed in at least one of the eight designated Zones on its surface. They did this sometime after their being sent there through Queen Serenity's use of the Imperium Silver Crystal in conjunction with her Kingdom's Crescent Moon Wand. Nobody who'd been sent forward in time to the future yet knew that well enough, if they ever would, of course. But they might eventually learn it later, if and whenever possible, just the same. Irene Shekovinski was the version of Queen Serenity that'd been sent unknowingly with many others to the future and that'd landed long before in the Jerusalem Zone of Earth. Or at least one of them, anyway. She didn't yet know this, however, if she ever would, in her new life on Earth in the future.

The girls began to get acquainted with each other at least a little bit, if not a lot. Supposing that they'd not already done so by then, of course. And their dates began to do the same thing as they were doing, if that was also true for them as well. Little did many of them know or realize, if at all, that they might just see each other quite often in the futures of their lives. Especially for those of them who were going to be significant enough parts of the Scouts' battles in the future, in fact. But that was yet to be learned by many, if not all, of them, as they were all at a dance together.

During the dance, when Sylvia could get enough time alone with Rolando somewhere, where they might not have to worry about anyone seeing, hearing, and/or detecting, et cetera, them easily enough, she asked him, "What do you think will happen for the Scouts in the near future?"

"Well, given what we know so far about them and their battles, it seems that they've been quite busy since Sailor Skyhorse showed up about four months ago. Not just with strange alien monsters, but also with assorted Arab terrorists. From what I heard, the Sailors Renaissance and Trinity missed the last battle or two that the Scouts appeared at, if I remember things well enough here. I wonder if and when they might fight again as such, Sylvia."

"I have a feeling that if they have enough time to heal from the injuries in their last battle well enough, they might just be able to fight in the next battle for the Scouts. I can't explain this feeling well enough to you at the present time, if I'll ever be able to. I just know I have this feeling, though, Rolando." Of course, she knew at least a bit more about things related to the Scouts than she was telling him here. But she didn't want him to be in any unnecessary danger, for the obvious reasons. So Sylvia didn't tell him stuff she shouldn't here.

They soon returned to wherever the other dancers were, after conversing with each other at least a little bit more. Eventually, they were with them again, when the need and/or desire arose for them both here. And they danced several dances. Not just fast ones, but slow ones as well. In time, like by 11 pm or so, at the very latest, couples began leaving the dance to return to their respective residences anywhere at all in the local area. Even several of Sylvia's friends and still-present acquaintances did so.

By midnight, local time, only about a dozen couples were still present at the dance, at most. Those couples included Sylvia and Rolando, Tatiana and Sergei, Selena and Darius, and Irene and her husband Hezekiah Shekovinski, in fact. Others couldn't be identified well enough at the current time by any of the aforementioned couples. Meaning Sylvia, Tatiana, Selena, or Irene's couples, by the way. At 12:15, Selena asked, "I need to go home now, Prince. Do you mind if we leave, by any chance?" She asked this of Darius, in Sylvia's hearing, at least.

"Prince? Where did that come from, Miss Selena Moon?" asked Darius, obviously quite surprised she'd called him that here, for the obvious reasons.

"I don't know. I really don't know, Prince Darius. I wish I knew for sure where it came from. And why."

"If I'm a Prince, which I highly doubt, then what are you?"

"I don't know anymore, if I'm calling a relative stranger a Prince for some yet-unknown reason. Why am I calling you that?"

Irene looked at her husband as two more couples left the dance. Soon, there were only four couples remaining there, and the music producers had left it as well. Irene conversed silently with Hez, asking him, when Sylvia and Rolando couldn't see them do so easily enough, "Does it seem like they are starting to remember their past on the Moon, dear?"

"I think so, at least as it pertains to Selena, if not also Sylvia and Tatiana, as well as Rolando and Sergei. I wonder just how long it will be before our daughter awakens, and when her court will do the same." Hezekiah had been known under another name during the Silver Millennium. That name had been Daniel. He had been completely regenerated, through help from other entities, after being killed before the final battle on the Moon. When his wife/widow saved everyone she was able to save, she unknowingly sent at least one version of him to the future as well. In time, they met, and fell in love. On the day of their wedding, all their memories of their shared pasts on the Moon came back to them in full, if they'd not already done so by that time.

A family soon followed, just as soon as they could start one. It took them a while, but they soon had started one with each other in this time period. None of these children would be like the ones they had once produced about a millennium before, most likely. Which probably meant they might never fight as Scouts or male allies to them in the future.

Even though they weren't Selena's biological parents in this time, they still would consider her their daughter, in fact. And they hoped that her life would remain peaceful enough for at least a while longer, if not a long while longer, of course. They both knew, however, that she might eventually have to fight evil as well, just the same.

At the moment, neither of them yet know if Luna had been able to make it to Earth in the Jerusalem Zone well enough. They were both hoping that she had, obviously.

* * *

As a matter of fact, Luna was living on the streets most, if not all, of the time in her life. She often spent the days hiding from the majority of people and other animals wherever she went in it. During the nights, however, she was often fairly active. Especially close to or on Full-Moon nights, in actual reality. When there was a lot of moonlight, she was often much more energetic. When the opposite was true, she was often quite lethargic.

Luna had not yet encountered Selena, Irene, or anyone else who'd been sent forward to the future from the Silver Millennium on the Moon. And she still had no idea that she was from there, either, for that matter. The only thing that she could remember well enough at the present time, except for things she needed to know in order to survive well enough into the future, was that she was looking for someone or something. She didn't know who or what it was, but she knew she was doing that whenever possible in her life, just the same, in fact.

At the current time, Luna was prowling for what might essentially be her lunch, if it was about twelve hours earlier or later than it now was. She had caught and eaten some mice and rats, as well as scavenged up some left-over human food. Her mostly black fur was still matted in a few places from assorted injuries received during spats or battles with other animals she'd encountered of late. She was currently prowling in the Old City, primarily, in some hard-won territory she'd carved out for herself. She was always seeking to enlarge her territory, if and whenever possible, so as to ensure herself enough food, enough water, and enough shelter for her own survival. At times, she even stumbled on various signs of Artemis's presence in the local area. But she didn't yet realize that, for she'd not yet encountered him before in this time period.

Sometime later, she found a safe enough place to hide, and soon hid there, beginning to take a catnap almost immediately after doing so. She remained there until about four in the morning, and then she moved along to do whatever else crossed her mind.

* * *

Meanwhile, as Luna was prowling, Darius said, "I don't know, Miss Moon. But I do know that I haven't seen many, if any women or girls with a hairstyle like yours."

"Just take me home, please, Darius and Rolando," said Selena to them both when she realized that Rolando and Sylvia were near enough to her and Darius again.

"As you wish, Princess," said Rolando, with a mock bow at Selena, and a wink at Sylvia.

Five minutes later, at most, Irene and Hezekiah were the last people still in the dance's location. They took care of everything they then needed to take care of there, and soon left it as well.

As for Selena and Sylvia, they arrived back at Selena's place by 12:35, at the latest. Ten minutes later, Sylvia left Selena's, and briefly went to Sweet Musicalisti to brief Serenade on her night out with her friends. By 1, she was setting off for Wakefield Castle again. After a brief stop to pick up a few things for others in her family, she went home. By 1:30, she was there. By 1:45, in her bed. By 2, quite soundly asleep in her bed, dreaming more about the past without realizing it well enough.


	19. Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

Ten hours later, Sylvia was patrolling in the area with Serenade, as Skyhorse. Tatiana was also patrolling in the area. But she was doing so with Vladephrad, and not with Skyhorse, for that matter. Kiena and Mary were at their respective residences, and they were each with respective relatives of theirs in them. They hadn't yet been cleared to actively fight by Skyhorse, if such fights were avoidable by them both. So only Mir and Skyhorse were currently powered up and patrolling as Scouts in the area.

Isaiah was scoping out yet a third part of the area, all by himself. Skyhorse had asked him to try to find out where more future Scouts and their allies might be living in the area earlier that day. So Isaiah was beginning to search for such people and animals here, after Skyhorse had asked him to do so during a short meeting in the cavern. Kiena and Mary hadn't been able to attend that meeting, for the obvious reasons.

Around 2 in the afternoon, Isaiah spotted a dog scavenging elsewhere. And specifically near where Luna was currently napping. He was drawn to the location for some yet-unknown reason. Just before the dog was about to paw where Luna was, under some garbage in a trash can, he felt a somewhat strong sense of Moon-based energy. And it caused him to suddenly go into a dive, and head straight for the dog in question. Ten feet away and about six feet above and behind the dog, he felt his legs and talons outstretch fully. No more than twenty seconds later, they raked the dog's back and sides quite a bit.

The dog howled and barked in great pain, of course. He sought out his attacker, as Luna heard him, and fled for her life as quickly as she could. Isaiah fought the dog as best as he could while Luna fled the scene. By the time she was far enough away, Isaiah had marked up the dog considerably, while avoiding too-major injuries caused by the dog, mainly because he could fly, and the dog couldn't. He lost some feathers on his sides, mostly, and had a few claw marks on his chest and abdomen. But he'd seriously, if not mortally, injured the dog in question, just the same. Especially on the dog's back, sides, and throat. If the dog recovered, he most certainly would seek revenge on Isaiah now, for the obvious reasons. Isaiah soon began following Luna from afar, as best as he then could. He soon saw her heading somewhere quite close to Mir, and notified Mir of that fact as soon as he could do so well enough.

Mir went where Luna went, and found Luna semi-unconscious there. After she did, she soon took Luna somewhere she could get checked out and attended to as was then needed. In time, Luna was checked out and attended to as her situation then warranted. Mir paid for the needed veterinarian services. And she brought her to her residence for a while, when she got done patrolling here. She left Vladephrad there to watch over her for a while, as she was going to meet with Skyhorse and Isaiah again in the cavern.

* * *

Hours later, Tatiana returned to her residence with Sylvia and Isaiah. When she did, Vladephrad said, "Her name is Luna, you three. I learned it when she meowed in her sleep, as if she'd been talking to another sentient being of whatever sort. It seems she's searching for someone named 'Sailor Moon,' if I'm not mistaken." 

"Did she say anything about what this Sailor Moon might look like?" asked Sylvia.

"No, I don't believe so. But it seems that there might be two Sailors by the names of 'Israel' and 'Judah' also joining our group soon enough. Neither of which she can identify well enough right now, by the way. She seems to think they might even go to DBJHS, as well, in fact. Though she's not really sure why, if she knows that well enough now in her life. She has Moon-based in her, for that matter." Sylvia began feeding Isaiah and Vladephrad, at Tatiana's request.

Tatiana asked, "Moon-based energy?"

"Yes, Tatiana," said Vladephrad, as he took a bit of bread Sylvia handed him now, and began to chew it a bit.

"Do you think you could track and sense such energy better from now on, then, Vladephrad and Isaiah?" asked Tatiana.

"Now that we know what to look for?" asked Isaiah. At her nod, Isaiah then looked at Vladephrad and studied his eyes. Vladephrad's eyes lit up, giving Isaiah all the information he'd need to answer Tatiana's question. He answered, seconds later, "I believe we can, Tatiana. Now that we know what to look for, we might be able to find Sailor Moon before our enemies do."

A little while later, then, Sylvia and Isaiah left Tatiana's place together. In time, they arrived back at Wakefield Castle, and Isaiah rested on a perch there for a while. Sylvia stayed near him, of course, as he did so.

As she stayed near him, Sylvia worked on one of her recent paintings just as quietly as she possibly could now. This was so as to make it much easier for him to rest and recuperate from his rather unexpected battle of earlier that day, in fact. When she felt she'd worked on that painting enough here, she set it aside, and worked on another project of hers, until about 5:15 or so in the afternoon. She had a brief meal with several of her relatives, and then left Wakefield Castle with Isaiah and some things of hers. She dropped Isaiah off at Kiena's, and decided to patrol again for a while. By 7, she finished patrolling, with no problems at all as she did so. From a pay phone, she called her family and told them she was going to Bethlehem for at least the current night. If not longer. They wished her well, and safe travels, of course, before she hung up on them.

* * *

Some length of time later, then, she was in an inn near The Church of the Nativity. For a little while, she patrolled the area as Skyhorse, without anyone recognizing her as such, for she'd covered her Scout uniform completely with tourist-like clothes. This, of course, was for all the obvious reasons here. Seeing, hearing, and detecting no trouble at all from anywhere at all, she eventually powered down again. But she still remained quite alert, just the same, in case her presence as Skyhorse was needed later, for any reason at all. 

By 11, she was back in her room in the inn she'd checked into earlier. All of a sudden, some terrorists drove by, and they started shooting, heading towards The Church of the Nativity. Almost instantly, she grabbed her locket, called out her transformation phrase as quietly as possible, and powered up. Out the nearest window, she went, just as soon as she could do that safely enough. And she began searching for the terrorists in question here, not bothering to hide her uniform here and now.

She soon found them trying to break into The Church of the Nativity, where several tourists had then hid as soon as they'd heard the shooting going on. Among them were several women who were with child, in fact, at the present time. Skyhorse soon found a young man in the church's security force, after slipping in through a window. And they gave her whatever information they could about those who were attacking the church here.

Minutes later, she picked two girls out of the crowd of tourists and asked them, "Girls, do you want to try to help me out here until we can get some reinforcements here?" Near both girls she'd picked out were two lockets, two slings, two pouches of stones, a scabbard, and a sword.

"How so, Skyhorse?" asked one of them, who Sylvia later learned was named Naomi. Naomi Abraham, a fellow student of DBJHS, in fact. Sylvia probably had met her before in school, but didn't recognize her well enough at present, due to the fact that Naomi and her sister were both in tourist-style clothes now. Naomi's sister was the other girl near Skyhorse here, and her name was Joelle.

"Take these lockets, slings, stones, sword, and scabbard, and use them as you both might see fit," said Skyhorse, all of a sudden, when she spotted them all near both of those girls. The girls soon complied, and then set off for the nearest ladies' restroom in the church. Two or so minutes later, they returned, transformed into Scouts, and Skyhorse sent them to begin picking off terrorists as best as they then could. Naomi, as the new Sailor Israel, moved to the back of the church to aid defenders there. While Joelle, as the new Sailor Judah, began roving around outside the church with minimal escort, felling Arabs at close enough range with her sling and pouch of stones.

Skyhorse and others in the church as well were too busy fighting to watch them work, of course. For hundreds of Arabs had begun to join the battle. And most of them were hostile. The IDF had not yet arrived on the scene, but they were coming, after having been alerted to the problem in progress now. Skyhorse often fired a machine gun when the need arose, especially as defenders near her were sometimes hit by enemy fire. She shot several dozen terrorists when they were in range, and she could get a clear enough shot at them. But still not enough, for several others near her were hit before the terrorists were killed by her or by others still able to fight in and around the church's grounds.

By 11:45 pm, then, IDF personnel began reinforcing the defenders, speaking in English and Hebrew as they did so. Including, of course, Sailors Skyhorse, Israel, and Judah. What was especially surprising when they did so was a large lion's presence with them. The lion soon tore into the attackers with great impunity, sending them fleeing the scene to the best of their diminishing abilities, if they were somehow able to do that at all well enough.

By 11:55 pm, not one attacker was still able to fight here. Whether or not they were still alive at that time, that was now the case for them all here. Two minutes later, all fighting stopped. About two or so minutes later, Skyhorse and others began witnessing the births of three babies to three different tourists whose labors had begun suddenly during the just-foiled Arab terrorist attack. Even Sailors Israel and Judah did so, in fact.

By 12:20 am, at the very latest, then, three newborn baby girls had been born to those mothers. When they were asked by those babies' mothers for name suggestions, the Scouts consulted briefly with each other, and they soon suggested the names of "Lucille Anna," "Sarah Hope," and "Rebekah Teresa" for the babies' names. All three names met with the mothers' approvals, in fact.

By 12:45 am, all the tourists had been accounted for, with not one fatality quite fortunately among any of them. However, some had been hurt, of course, during the battle, for the obvious reasons. All the necessary tourists were attended to, where needed, by then. As for the defenders, 24 had been killed and about two or three times that had been injured non-mortally. The church had taken some damage, by the way, but nothing that couldn't be repaired easily enough, most likely. And nothing that endangered the sustainability of its presence there, either.

Skyhorse powered down as soon as she could, when she could, and Sailors Israel and Judah were with her when she did so. She soon learned that they were Naomi and Joelle quite well enough, when they powered down too.

After a little more time had passed in her room, Sylvia said, "Now that you two are also Scouts, there is much we have to discuss later. For the time being, however, I'll have to wait to tell you both a great deal. But for now, at least, there are at least a few things I can discuss with you here." Sylvia discussed those things with Naomi and Joelle from about 1 to about 1:15 in the morning, as was now necessary here. Once the Abraham girls were sufficiently informed about the necessary things, and Sylvia knew she could trust them completely to keep certain things secret that needed to be, she let them leave her room in the applicable inn. That done, she soon prepared for bed, knowing that there was absolutely no chance her services as Skyhorse would be needed again for at least some yet-unknown length of time. By 1:45 am, after briefly writing in her journal, she was quite soundly asleep again in her life. And as usual, dreaming more about her time in the Silver Millennium, for that matter.

* * *

After several hours of sleep, Sylvia set off for the Jerusalem area again. She arrived back at Wakefield Castle by 11 in the morning, and her parents and siblings were glad to see her again safe and sound. They'd heard about the failed attack on The Church of the Nativity, and worried for her safety. When she walked in the front door, they were very happy, to put it rather mildly, at least, of course. 

She spent several hours, at least, with them and assorted friends and relatives that came to Wakefield Castle. Including several cousins, aunts, uncles, nephews, and nieces, in fact. As well as all four of her grandparents, for that matter. Many presents were exchanged by Sylvia and whatever friends and relatives were with her as long as she was still at Wakefield Castle.

By 5, however, she felt she'd been there for a long enough time at the present time. So she escaped to her room long enough to change into other clothes and gather up some other things of hers there. She secured her room completely from anyone who might seek to enter it. She used her locket to summon Serenade, and he was under her balcony just as soon as he could be. Which was by 5:30 pm, at the very latest. As soon as she knew he was there, she powered up just as quietly as she could, of course. By the time she was fully Skyhorse again, she was on the balcony, and it was secured with a pipe or something. She jumped off her balcony, and landed as needed on his back.

Ten seconds later, then, they were ready to leave the grounds together, after Skyhorse had settled herself and her things on his back well enough. As soon as she was ready enough to ride, he asked, "Where to, Skyhorse?"

"Patrolling the area, then to the cavern, if you please."

"As you wish. I heard that two more Sailors appeared in and near The Church of the Nativity in the last 24 hours. Are they the ones we're looking for, by any chance?"

"Neither of them is Sailor Moon, nor any of the other Scouts in her royal Court, it seems. However, they are Scouts, just the same, evidently. Their Scout names are Israel and Judah." She told him about the battle as best as she then could. And it took her a good portion of their patrol for her to do that enough to suit him well enough. For he asked her several questions about it, not having heard much about it before he'd come to her house earlier at her request.

Eventually, by 7, all the Scouts, whether transformed or not, were in the cavern. Even Naomi and Joelle were there, by the way. For Skyhorse had requested that Kiena pick them up from their residence and bring them to the cavern with her.

Also, all the Scouts' animal allies were there, for that matter. Even the lion that had been present at the earlier battle was there, in fact. The lion identified himself as "Yeshua Ben David." The others soon asked the lion what they should call him in the future, and the lion said, "Yeshua." The others all agreed to do that in rather short order.

After they settled that among themselves well enough, they began discussing the events of the battle in and around The Church of the Nativity. While they did that, Skyhorse had Naomi and Joelle transform into their new Scout states, so that others could see what they looked like as Scouts well enough. So Naomi and Joelle did as requested.

No more than about a minute or two later, then, Sailors Israel and Judah were completely visible in the cavern to everyone else in it. Both had lockets just above the knots in their neckerchiefs. Israel's locket had twelve six-pointed stars bearing one Hebrew letter each surrounding a menorah inside a wreath of olive branches on its front. While Judah's had a lion's head facing forward in the middle of a six-pointed star flanked by a sling and a pouch of stones, with the pouch of stones being to Judah's left as she might wear it in the future, and the sling being to her right. There were no letters on any point for the star on Judah's locket, by the way.

Israel was mainly in blue and white, while Judah was mostly in gold and purple, wherever possible for either or both of them. Their uniform blouses were both white where they could be. As were their gloves, for that matter. Their uniform skirts both now went roughly to their knees. As was normally, if not always, the case for any of the currently-known other Sailor Scouts to date, in fact. Along the hem of Sailor Israel's skirt which was mostly the exact shade of blue as was on Israel's national flag, there were alternating white six-pointed stars and menorahs between two lines embroidered with green and silver olive branches. While along the hem to Sailor Judah's mostly purple skirt between two gold stripes, there were alternating gold lion's heads, slings, and pouches of stones. Their respective footwear items were lace-up boots, which were all of the roughly knee-length variety. However, Israel's boots had a straight and level top edge to them, and Judah's had a V-cut to them. Symbols similar to the ones on their skirts and/or lockets were on their boots wherever they were most appropriate for them to be. They had armbands at their elbows that were the same color as the majority of their respective skirts. Their shoulders for their uniforms were identical to Skyhorse, Renaissance, Trinity, and Mir's uniform shoulders as Scouts, as well. Israel's neckerchief, bows, and sailor collar were all blue with white piping or trim wherever necessary. While Judah's were all purple with gold piping or trim, as then required for her. Both Israel and Judah also had gold tiaras with their respective birthstones at the base of them. They both had no other jewelry with them at present in either or both of their Scout states, except for what might now be on their lockets, tiara, and/or weapons.

Pouches and slings hung from their respective waists as appropriate for them both. Israel also had a sword and scabbard hanging from her waist, while Judah didn't. Instead, Judah had a shepherd's crook and a knife with its sheath on her person. Her crook was on her back in a holder of sorts for it. While her knife was in the same general area of her waist roughly corresponding to where Israel was now wearing her sword in its scabbard.

After they'd been looked over enough by everyone else in the cavern, Israel eventually asked, "What else do we both need to know about being Scouts that we haven't been told yet, Skyhorse?" She and Judah learned those things from Skyhorse and others then with them until about 8:15 pm or so, at the very earliest, and until about 8:45 pm, at the very latest.

Eventually, Skyhorse felt they'd been informed enough about the necessary Scout-related matters, and let them leave the cavern, if they wanted to do that by then. The cavern was soon quite empty again, after that happened. Everyone soon powered down wherever appropriate before leaving it behind again, by the way. And they scattered to assorted other places in the area, if they wanted to do that at all.

Sylvia and Serenade soon returned to Wakefield Castle briefly, so that she could drop some things off in her room she'd gotten while patrolling as Skyhorse. As soon as she waved at him through a window in her room, he left Wakefield Castle's grounds for the rest of the night, and headed back to Sweet Musicalisti again. He was back there, and in his stall by 9:30 pm, at the very latest, in fact. Sylvia arrived at his stall at 9:35, and spent a few minutes finishing up the necessary preparations for his bedtime that Reuben and Timothy had already been working on when Serenade arrived in his stall. By 9:45, he was resting comfortably enough there, and beginning to go to sleep there, for that matter.

Sylvia saw this, and left not too much later. She went to an all-night party elsewhere when she left Sweet Musicalisti's grounds again for the rest of the night. She stayed at that party until about 1:15 in the morning, after which she went nearly straight home. By 1:30 or so, she was back at Wakefield Castle. By 1:45, she was in her room, in her bed, making a short entry in her journal, as she was often known to do. By 2, she had hidden her journal again where needed, and gone to sleep after turning off her lights. And she was then quite soundly asleep, lost in still more dreams of her past from the days of the Silver Millennium, of course.


	20. Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

New Year's Eve, Sylvia encountered Rolando again. He was at _PPP_ with his friend James. They were having a lunch with each other when she showed up there. In fact, they were both in the process of consuming a three-cheese pizza as they were discussing their hopes for the next calendar years of their lives.

The first thing she heard when she was close enough to their table to hear them well enough was, "James, I wonder when Sylvia's birthday is. I think it would be real nice to be able to get her something for it, if I knew when it was."

Sylvia suddenly reached into a purse that she was now carrying, and whipped out a pen and a pad of paper. She quickly jotted her birthdate down on a sheet of that paper and secretly slipped it behind his head inside a strap for it as she passed him. Neither James nor Rolando saw her pass or slip that paper under Rolando's hat, for their attentions were fully on the remaining slices of pizza between them both now.

Ten seconds after that, after she was hidden somewhat in the crowd of _PPP_'s patrons, Rolando felt the slip of paper behind his head well enough. He picked it out from where she'd put it, then looked at it. She'd written, "January 25, 1974. SLW."

After viewing that slip for a few moments, and seeing several hastily-sketched stylized hearts around her date and initials, he said, "It seems she has a thing for romance beginning to awaken in her, for there are several hearts here, James."

"Really?" asked James.

Rolando showed him the paper briefly, and James said, "You might just be right. From the looks of those hearts, it appears she's begun looking for the boy or man who will be her first, if not only, true love in her life."

"And who do you think that she might be considering as such?"

"From the looks of these hearts, and if I were a betting man, which I'm generally not, my Shekels would be on you or the Pilgrim, whoever they may be. For her letters seem to look at least a little, if not a lot, like letters often looked during the Middle Ages in Europe and the Middle East. At least from what I can tell of them well enough at present."

"Why do you say me?" asked Rolando, between two bites of pizza.

"Because if she weren't considering you as such, she wouldn't likely have surrounded her birthdate and initials with hearts. The logical reason for her considering the Pilgrim as a possible love interest has already been given to you by me here, Rolando." He handed back the paper to Rolando seconds later.

Eventually, James left _PPP_, for he had other things he needed or wanted to do in his life at the present time. Rolando wished him a safe rest of the day and a pleasant night wherever he might go for the rest of AD 1990. Not too much later, then, James left Rolando again in _PPP_.

Sylvia quickly finished some apple juice and lasagna she'd ordered for herself not long after coming to _PPP_ about an hour before. She took care of her bill, and left a good tip for her waitress, before she joined Rolando at his table here. She sat down across from him at it, and soon asked, "How are you today, Rolando?"

"Fine, Sylvia. And you?"

"Things could be better. I'm getting rather tired of all these alien and terrorist attacks here in Israel, though."

"Why is that?"

"Because this land was given to our people by God so long ago, through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that's why."

"That's not what a lot of the Arabs seem to think."

"True. They also often call our land 'The Land of Palestine' or similar enough names to that. And they often call themselves 'Palestinians,' Rolando, when there have never truly been an independent state of 'Palestine' or a distinct people known as 'Palestinians.' They claim the Land of Israel belongs to them as a homeland. But according to God, it doesn't." Sylvia took out a deck of cards and began playing Solitaire.

"They claim Ishmael was nearly sacrificed by Abraham, right?"

"I believe so. But that can't be true. Either Isaac was nearly sacrificed, or Ishmael was. Both couldn't have been. Ishmael was the father, I believe, of twelve nations, while Isaac was the father of Jacob, who became Israel, in time."

"Where do they get the terms of 'Palestine' or 'Palestinians,' then, Sylvia?"

"Hadrian called our land 'Palestine' when he changed all the maps of it. He hated the Jew, so he sought to eradicate the names Judea, Samaria, and Israel from the world's history forever. He gave our land the name of 'Palestine' after a long-defeated enemy of our people, the Philistines. Ever since, there have been those who have tried to steal the land from our people, and exterminate God's Chosen People from the Earth." Sylvia played a red 8 on a black 9.

"They often call your people unlawful occupiers of the so-called 'West Bank' and 'Gaza Strip,' don't they?"

"Yes, Rolando, they do. But what they don't seem to realize is that we are here to stay, never to be totally removed from our land again. They will continue to cause trouble until such time as God sees fit to permanently stop their attempts to steal our land so that it no longer exists at all."

"My people referred to this land as 'Palestine,' or 'Transjordan,' I believe, didn't they?" Sylvia finished her current game, and started another.

"Under the League of Nations and the United Nations Mandates, I believe so, Rolando. But our people fought and won our independence in 1948. Later battles allowed us to gain more territory, by the grace of God. Even after we finally reunited Jerusalem's Old and New Cities in 1967, in fact. The hand of God is on our nation, militarily speaking, whenever we seek to do what is right. I have seen, however, attempts to divide our land and give it to those who would seek to destroy us, and I don't like it one bit, to tell you the truth."

"And who might be one of those people, Sylvia?"

"Saddam Hussein, for one. He has moved troops of his into Kuwait within the last three or four months, come to think of it, Rolando. It might not be long before we see war between us and Iraq. Us being Israel and a coalition of assorted other nations, by the way. He wants Kuwait's oil, among other things. And if he can't have it, then he doesn't want anyone else to have it either, as well, I'm sure."

"So you think there'll be war for sure against Iraq in the near future?"

"Yes, not once. But twice, in fact. I have this feeling that if we don't take him out if we go to war with Iraq, he will continue to cause trouble in the world until he is, and many will be killed as a result." She played a Spade to a foundation.

"Why do you have this feeling, Sylvia?"

She steepled her fingers briefly, and soon answered, "I don't know for sure, and I wish I did. I do know, however, that he is a weapon of mass destruction who hates Israel very much. I also know from assorted relatives and friends all over the world that he is trying to get many weapons of mass destruction. Such as nuclear bombs, for example. Iran's regime is trying to develop nuclear weapons for themselves as well, from what I hear."

"Anyone else trying to get them who might not yet have them?" She placed a Heart on another foundation.

"India and Pakistan, if my sources are accurate enough, are seeking to have them within the next ten years, if they possibly can, Rolando." Rolando finished the rest of his food and drink items then in front of him here, as she said that. "If they get nukes, there may be trouble there, in time. Also, I believe North Korea is trying to become a nuclear nation sometime in the future, if they can be."

"I see. And if there are two wars against Iraq in the future, what do you think might cause the second war with Iraq?"

"At least indirectly, I think that war will be caused by attacks on the United States. The places where those attacks might take place are yet-unknown to me, it seems. Whether or not they will always be is yet to be seen. But I believe that the U.S. will get attacked, just the same, by many Arab terrorists."

"Where might those terrorists come from?"

"I can't tell that at present, if I'll ever be able to before they happen to launch them, Rolando. But I do know the world will most likely never be the same after they do." She soon finished her current game of Solitaire, and started another one. Halfway through it, she said, "You don't have to get fancy with any present for me if you don't want to. I like poetry, good music, and the occasional flower. Chocolate is fine, to a point, but I don't often eat a lot of it. Good books often interest me considerably. Especially ones that don't have very much, if any, junk in them at all. I don't generally read the so-called 'Romance' books. For they generally have a great deal of junk in them, if you know what I mean by that, Rolando. I will often read in my spare time, when I'm not doing anything else at all. Like quilting, riding, or painting, for example."

"Do you like inspirational romances, Sylvia?"

"Are you kidding, Rolando?" Seeing that he wasn't, when he winked at her, she said, "I love them, if they're written well enough by people! I especially like Janette Oke, Gilbert Morris, Eugenia Price, and the Thoenes, from what I've seen of them so far, for example. I also have read most, if not all, of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books before."

"Who are the Thoenes, Sylvia?"

"They're Americans, and I believe they've already put out at least a few books in their writing careers. Right off-hand, though, I can't really tell you exactly how many they've put out by now, for sure." She completed her third game of Solitaire a few seconds later, and then glanced at a clock on the nearest wall to them both. It was just before 1:30 in the afternoon. As she did so, she got this feeling that something sufficiently major was about to happen here. And it wasn't a pleasant feeling, at that. She suddenly said, "Rolando, please leave, and ask everyone else to begin evacuating the area of _PPP_ just as quickly as they can. I have a feeling that I can't fully explain telling me something big is heading this way, and that it might be here very soon indeed. Like within the next five or ten minutes, perhaps, at most. I'll pay for your stuff you and James haven't already paid for. Just get yourself and as many other people as you can out of _PPP_ just as quickly and as safely as you can."

Rolando began doing so immediately, as Sylvia stowed away her cards, paid and tipped for James and Rolando's meal, and headed for the ladies' restrooms. Two minutes later, once it was safe enough for her to do so, she powered up, and became Skyhorse. Skyhorse soon confirmed that hundreds of Negaverse monsters, at least, were heading for the area, led by Nephlyte. As soon as she did, she summoned her other Scouts. Including Kiena and Mary, by the way, even though she didn't want to have to do it. They appeared inside _PPP_ two minutes before the monsters would be able to attack it and the area around it, for that matter.

Quite reluctantly, then, of course, Skyhorse made it possible for Kiena and Mary to transform again. She did this as Mir, Israel, and Judah arrived as well in the ladies' restroom of _PPP_ that she, Kiena, and Mary were now in here. Twenty seconds after Mir, Israel, and Judah had joined Skyhorse, Kiena, and Mary in the applicable restroom, Renaissance and Trinity became fully visible here again. That done, the Scouts left the restroom and went to work doing whatever they then needed to do here.

It wasn't more than about a minute or two later before they had to begin fighting Negaverse monsters in and around _PPP_, in fact. They took down a few as often as they could before their animal allies started to show in the area. Of course, being only six Scouts, they found it somewhat difficult, if not impossible, to avoid being hit by those monsters' various attacks. Especially whenever they were trying to shield any number of civilians from them, for the obvious reasons. Including, as they might later find out, other future Scouts who might fight along with them later on.

By 2:05, at least two, but not all, of their animal allies had joined the battle. Yeshua and Serenade were still en route to it, and Yeshua was closer. Moonlight Serenade wasn't, for a traffic jam was making it harder for him to get near enough to _PPP_ quickly enough, by the way. He had to take a few detours to try to get around that traffic jam, for that matter, at least. If not a lot.

As for Rolando, he was helping evacuate the area as best as he could, where possible. But due to the monsters' presences, he and others were obviously finding it quite hard to do, just the same. He finally was able to see all but a dozen or so civilians out of the area of _PPP_ well enough. Those other civilians refused to leave, even after much urging on his part. Little did he know that those people were future Scouts yet, but he'd learn that in time. He then left in order to help watch over those who'd already escaped, once they all said, "We choose to stay here, and try to help the Scouts defend this place to the best of our abilities to do so." They drove him out of _PPP_ in very short order, and then armed themselves with whatever they could get their hands on well enough.

Selena, Amy, Rachel, Etana, Andrea, and nine other girls or women refused to leave with Rolando when he did, and stayed behind in _PPP_. The other nine would also be Scouts in the future. Specifically the Scouts who'd be known as Sailors Corona, Eclipse, Pluto, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn, Sedna, Quaoar, and Orcus, when they finally awoke in the future. One of them was blind, and the other deaf. The blind one was the sister of the deaf one, and both girls' names were Destiny and Bethany Krenski. They were joined by a cord tied between two of their wrists. The others then with them were all completely sighted and hearing, unlike the blind Destiny and the deaf Bethany.

The fourteen soon found themselves fighting the monsters alongside their future Scout mates. During the course of the battle, Destiny and Bethany's cord got severed, and both girls were thrown apart from each other. The future Uranus and Saturn soon leapt to their defense. Alexis, the future Uranus, slashed at two monsters with an improvised staff of stone, in front of Destiny, while Hannah, the future Saturn, defended Bethany with several meal trays thrown like throwing stars.

Amy and the future Neptune, Michelle, sent plenty of water and cold items towards the monsters from assorted places in and around _PPP_. Especially water from many hoses. The monsters were not totally able to avoid the numerous items sent towards them by Amy and Michelle, at the very least, if not anyone else as well.

Etana, Andrea, and the future Pluto, Susan, worked together periodically, by Susan often drawing their attentions long enough for Etana and Andrea to attack them from above every once in a while. For instance, Etana periodically boosted Andrea up to various higher places in _PPP_. And Andrea would drop down on the monsters, knocking them down, strangling them, or tripping them up, whenever possible, in the fight.

Selena and the other civilians would periodically attack other monsters with whatever things they could attack them with here. They often did so with each other in concert with the Scouts and their animal allies, for that matter. Serenade and Yeshua finally arrived at the scene of the battle by 2:40 pm or so, local time. The Pilgrim arrived at it by 2:45 pm, just as Renaissance and Trinity were about to try to get somewhere they could rest briefly. He brought them to such a place for a while, and then showed himself in the battle well enough. He went right to work on helping everyone fight in and around _PPP_, but refused to apply killing strokes to any of the monsters he fought. He left all such strokes to the others with him, whenever such strokes were made. For he didn't want to kill anyone at all in his life, if he could possibly avoid doing that in it. Eventually he might have to kill in it, but this was not such a time for him in it, in fact. Which would please him quite considerably, once he knew that well enough in it, by the way.

Eventually, the monsters began panicking, once Yeshua began rapidly decimating their numbers with great impunity. Nephlyte tried to get them to keep fighting for a while. He soon had to give up on that idea, once he saw that his monsters were being destroyed quite quickly indeed. So he began trying to escape with as many monsters as he then could back to his headquarters, at least, if not back to the Negaverse. He was somehow able to get away from the battle with about two dozen of them. However, all his other monsters weren't quite as fortunate as they were, for they met their ends, in time, because of the Scouts and their allies.

* * *

Nephlyte made it back there well enough, and put all his surviving monsters into regeneration pods of a sort. As he was doing so, the Negaverse General Zoisite suddenly appeared there when he least expected her to. 

Zoisite said, as soon as she'd settled herself on a couch of sorts well enough, "Queen Beryl is now very mad at you, Nephlyte. It now seems that there are six Scouts now active around here. None of which are fighting for us now, in fact."

"The latest two joined a little while ago during an Arab terrorist attack in Bethlehem, I believe. I had nothing to do with them becoming Scouts in the first place."

"But you have lost many of our warriors in engagements against the Scouts since you took over for Jeddite. And she seems about ready to replace you as mission leader, for that matter. You'd probably best find some way to eliminate them well enough soon, or you might not find yourself in a pleasant enough situation very much longer."

A minute or two later, Zoisite disappeared from his headquarters in the same manner as she'd just come there in the first place. He soon went back to work on assorted Negaverse-related monsters. At least in terms of him creating them, if not also modifying currently-existing ones as well. It probably would take him quite a while to prepare enough monsters to fight against the Scouts again, for the obvious reasons. And he didn't know just how much time he might still have before Beryl relieved him of control over the Negaverse's operations against the people of Earth, either, of course. So he didn't want to waste any unnecessary time as he then prepared himself for what might be his last battle as a Negaverse General, if he could possibly avoid it at all.

* * *

Meanwhile, as Nephlyte and others were otherwise occupied elsewhere in the area after the battle, Skyhorse and her current companions then began trying to do what they possibly could in and around the area of _PPP_ in order to clean up and/or repair battle damage caused in it. But they weren't totally able to repair and/or clean up everything well enough at the present time. For the monsters had caused quite considerable amounts of damage in it. So much damage, in fact, that _PPP_ would probably have to temporarily, at least, move its operations elsewhere in the Jerusalem local area. 

There turned out to be absolutely no fatalities among any of the people who'd been at _PPP_ before and during the just-ended battle. Which was quite fortunate for all concerned people here, of course. Not that some of them weren't at least partly hurt, because a few civilians actually were by falling and/or flying debris. But none of the people there were actually killed in the battle, just the same. Among the hurt civilians were the blind Destiny and the deaf Bethany. However, there were no quite serious enough injuries to them at all, in fact.

By 4:30, then, everyone had completely left the grounds of _PPP_, after recovering all their things from there somehow well enough, and being checked on by enough emergency personnel well enough as well. Even Sylvia did so, after first powering down there, by the way. She wouldn't likely return there for some unknown length of time in the future, if at all, for the obvious reasons.

By 5:15, she was with Serenade back at Sweet Musicalisti. He arrived there first, about five minutes before she did. And they stayed with each other there until almost 6:30, before she had to leave him to attend to other things she needed or wanted to attend to in her life, in fact. She stopped briefly at Wakefield Castle, so she could change her clothes again, for example.

By 7, she was away from Wakefield Castle again. She went out to try to enjoy herself for the rest of the night. She, in fact, went to Teddy Kollek Stadium to try to enjoy a late-night concert there for quite some time indeed. Several musical artists were expected to perform at this concert which would end sometime after 1990 ended, and 1991 began, by the way.

Sylvia stayed there until about 2 or so in the morning of Tuesday, January 1, 1991, before returning to Wakefield Castle again. She was back there by 3, in her room by 3:15, and quite soundly asleep in her bed by 3:35, after leaving the Stadium there. As usual, more dreams of her time spent during the Silver Millennium visited her as she slept there. However, they began to become clearer to her, for she had finally had a chance to meet several other girls and women who also served then as Sailor Scouts of whatever sort they actually were before.


	21. Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

About three or so weeks later, with no further Negaverse or Arab terrorist attacks taking place, it was now Thursday, January 24, 1991. Sylvia was with several of her friends eating lunch at school. They were talking about a party that her family and friends were planning on giving her the following evening. Sylvia was trying to find out how many of her school friends might be able to attend such a party. Liz said, "I think I can make it, Sylvia. But my Dad might want me to spend the weekend with him and several of my other relatives in Bristol, I think. He seems to be really wanting to go there of late, for some yet-unknown reason."

"I see. And do you really want to go?"

"No, even if it might possibly mean more time with Thomas, I don't. For I don't want to miss your special celebration day, if I can possibly avoid it at all."

"Why is that, Liz?"

"Because, my little Israelite friend, we're best friends. And we're girls. Boys are nice, of course, often, but I think it's so great that we're girls. They can't really dress up like we can, can they?"

"Why can't they?"

"Because, Syl, they don't often look as good as we do, I think, due to the fact that we can, as girls, often wear more jewelry and related items than they can."

"What else?"

"We can wear makeup more than they can, often, unless they're actors, of course. They don't look good in pink, normally, either, for example. Almost any color might look good on us, while the same thing isn't generally true for them."

"But they make more money working than we do, I believe, in their careers, generally. Even for the same kind of work, right?"

"True enough, a lot, if not all, of the time, Sylvia," said Liz. "But you must also consider that they can't bear children, which means they can generally work much more while we're with child than we often can. But I'd rather have children than have too much money in my life. Too much money can cause a lot of problems, if not handled in a Godly enough manner by a lot of people."

"I see. And how many children would suit you then, Liz, if God gives you at least that many? If not more?"

"Eight to ten."

"Wow, BIG family, wouldn't you say?"

"I suppose so. But I want a lot of kids, if possible. How many do you want?"

"Four to six, maybe, as far as I can tell well enough in my life right now."

"I see. And who might be the lucky guy?"

"I don't know for sure."

"You don't know, or don't want to say?" asked Liz, with a sly grin of some sort here and now. None of her table-mates saw that grin of hers besides Sylvia, in fact.

Sylvia blushed almost imperceptibly, before answering a few seconds later, "Both, perhaps." But Liz barely spotted the very brief blush, without letting Sylvia know she had. Liz secretly resolved to try to find out just who Sylvia might currently be interested in at least a little bit, if not a lot, just as soon as she could do that well enough somehow.

Eventually, Sylvia and the rest of her current table-mates had to leave the applicable school cafeteria and go to their next classes. No matter what they might be, they all had to do that then, just the same.

* * *

The following day, right after school ended for the day, Rolando asked, "Miss Wakefield, could I see you tonight, perhaps?" 

"I really don't know, Mr. Volois. I have plans for the evening with many of my friends and relatives, since it is still my birthday, as you know."

"Do you have a date tonight to this engagement yet?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"Because I was going to try to spend it with you, if I could, Miss Wakefield."

"I see. Well, my engagement is expected to be over by 8, I think. Do you think we could meet at the library or the mall by 8:30, after it's over?"

"I think we might be able to do that, Miss Wakefield."

"What should I wear then?"

"Wear your best currently-available dress. I'm taking you out tonight, if I can, and we're going to try to enjoy ourselves as long as we can do that well enough."

"Okay. I'll see what I can do for us both in that regard." Shortly after she said that, they both parted from each other again for at least a while, if not a long while here. As they both parted, she suddenly thought, "God, please let there be absolutely no trouble with anyone tonight at all, if it is Your will that there won't be. For I really do want to have a really pleasant birthday tonight in my life. But only if it is Your will that I have one, and not just mine, at least, of course."

When she got home from school, her parents said, "Sylvia, we have just decided to have you marry someone in the near future. You will be meeting them tonight at your party. It seems that they have made a suitable offer for your hand in marriage, and we have decided to accept it on your behalf."

"Without consulting me? Outrageous! Why would you have done this, without even letting me know beforehand?"

"Because something quite major has now forced us to do that, Sylvia. We have no choice now, it seems," said her father.

"Can you tell me their names, at least?"

"No, we can't. You will be present at your party, or else people might get hurt, according to the person we're being forced to marry you off to now. It's a long story, but you need to be there tonight for at least a little while, if not all night," said her mother.

"This is unrighteous!"

"That may be so, but we still have no choice, just the same. Be there tonight," said her Dad, in time.

"Fine. But you will have much to answer for later, if at all possible."

"We understand. I hope you can eventually forgive us in time for this, Sylvia. But if you don't do so for at least a while, if ever, so be it," said her mother.

Five minutes later, Sylvia headed straight to her room and began packing up all her things as best and as quickly as she could. As she was doing so, her siblings soon came into her room, with her permission, and began to help her. With all their help, she soon had her van loaded with a good portion of her stuff. She took everything to the cavern, and quickly unloaded it with Kiena, Tatiana, Mary, Naomi, and Joelle's help, at least, if not any of their animal allies' help as well. Two more full van loads later, her room was completely empty back at Wakefield Castle of anything belonging to her. And anything else of hers anywhere else in or around Wakefield Castle was loaded into her van as well, for that matter. No matter what it might be, in fact. She quickly dropped off all those things of hers in the cavern, and set off for her party.

By the time she got there, it was nearly 6:45, the time scheduled for her party earlier. All her closest friends and several of her relatives were there by the time she arrived outside a specific Jerusalem-area restaurant she'd only rarely visited in the past, if ever before at all. As soon as she pulled into the parking lot for it, she got a really, really bad feeling starting to show up for her. And it had all the signs she'd come to recognize of the Negaverse's presence, for that very matter. She made quite sure that if she might need to transform all of a sudden, she'd be able to do so quite easily enough. God willing, of course. She secretly notified all her fellow Scouts and their animal allies of the situation too, just as securely and as quickly as she could do that at all. They agreed to do what was then necessary and possible for them all at a moment's notice, if they could somehow do so well enough. No matter what it was, they still did so.

Promptly at 6:45, she arrived at her parents' table in that restaurant. Four people were present with them when she did so. All were currently wearing business-style clothing, except for one woman with red hair and a long floor-length strapless and shoulderless dress with a bat on the front of it. The other three at her parents' table were an auburn-haired man, a blonde-haired woman, and a white-haired man. The four with her and her parents at their table introduced themselves as Athania Mullins, Troy Hawley, Nekanala Warkley, and Ikoray Hardin. But those names weren't actually their real names. They told her parents that they were cousins requiring the presence of spouses for them to each receive their inheritances. And that "Troy" was the one who needed to marry Sylvia to receive his.

Sylvia soon realized that the four were not actually normal human beings, and notified secretly all the necessary people and animals as best as she could. Even while she pretended to play along with her parents and their table-mates at present here. After a while longer, she excused herself from their table, saying she needed to check her appearance, among other things, and headed for the nearest available ladies' restroom there.

As soon as it was safe enough for her to do so, she activated a robot device that another Scout had secretly hidden in the restroom's roof, and eventually sent it back to the required table in that restaurant. Then she slipped through the roof, and into an air duct above it. She quietly moved through that air duct for a little while, until she was able to slip out of the restaurant's back well enough. She ducked briefly into an adjacent abandoned warehouse, scrambled her Scout signs, so that the Negaversers couldn't detect her powering up, and then became Skyhorse again when it was safe enough for her to do so here well enough. This, of course, was for all the obvious reasons, in fact. And she did that just as she could do that here, by the way.

Five minutes later, at most, she appeared at the main entrance to the restaurant in question, and said, "I am Sailor Skyhorse. It has come to my attention that a certain young woman, whose birthday it now is, has now been promised to someone without her prior knowledge and consent. That is wrong, and I shall not permit her life to be ruined in such a way, if I can possibly avoid it at all. Those of you here who are her parents have much to answer for. But those who will have the most to answer for here are those forcing them to marry their daughter off to them without her permission. I now know who you are, and what you are, in fact. Four of you are Negaversers. Specifically, you are Queen Beryl, General Nephlyte, General Zoisite, and General Malachite. Your plan to capture this young woman will fail, and it will fail totally. Come forth, and reveal yourselves, Scouts and allies, if you so choose!"

Now spaced periodically in and around the restaurant, wherever and whenever possible, were Renaissance, Trinity, Mir, Israel, Judah, Moonlight Serenade, Isaiah, Vladephrad, and Yeshua, at least, if not anyone else as well. They all became visible enough within a minute or two after Skyhorse asked them to show themselves. Right after they did, several hundred, if not at least four thousand, monsters of assorted sizes, whether big or small, then did the same, at the Negaversers' command, for that matter.

Two minutes later, a fierce battle began raging in full earnest, when Beryl made a certain signal with her hands to the assembled Negaverse monsters. As soon as it did, things heated up rather quickly indeed. Several civilians were soon seriously, but not fatally, wounded, once the battle began here. Among them was Liz, in fact. Skyhorse saw this and went full-bore very quickly on the monsters who saw fit to attack Liz like they did, if she'd not already done so by that time. They were destroyed almost immediately afterward. Several more monsters met their demise right after that, thanks to Moonlight Serenade's impassioned defense of his once and future mistress while she was battling towards where her parents, sisters, and brother were elsewhere in the restaurant. The battle continued for at least a good twenty minutes, if not more, before the Pilgrim could finally join the battle as well. And when he did so, he was not alone. For two more animals and fifteen other human females were with him, as a matter of fact. All fifteen human females were currently in civilian dress, but that wouldn't remain the case much longer, if the two other animals could do anything to change that well enough here.

Two minutes after they arrived on the scene with their human companions, and after conversing very quietly with the oldest of them, the animals both did some acrobatic maneuvers quite quickly indeed. And they began rapidly initiating the fourteen youngest human females with them as superheroines, as they needed to here and now.

Three minutes later, at most, fourteen new Scouts began joining the battle as well. The new Scouts were, of course, Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, the now-sighted Corona, the now-hearing Eclipse, Pluto, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Sedna, Orcus, and Quaoar, in order of them joining the fight that was now raging here. All of the new Scouts' uniforms had appropriately-colored skirts that were each about knee-length, more or less. Mercury soon shrouded the area with a "Mercury Bubbles Blast" attack, while Moon, Mars, and Pluto did a combination attack made up of their lowest-powered attacks at present. Which had been their highest-powered attacks at the time of the Moon Kingdom's fall, in fact. Moon combined a "Moon Tiara Action" attack with a "Dead Scream" attack from Pluto and a "Celestial Fire Surround"-style attack from Mars several times. Jupiter and Venus double-teamed at least four others in very short order, as did Corona and Eclipse, and Uranus and Neptune. Saturn periodically helped draw monsters' attention long enough to allow other Scouts to attack them easily enough here, shrouding herself in a cloak as dark as the night whenever necessary so they couldn't find her easily enough to attack her at all. Scouts like Sedna, Quaoar, and Orcus, for example. Even the oldest woman present among the Scouts' human reinforcements fought when needed. And she was masked.

When about twenty dozen or so monsters were still able to fight in the restaurant against the Scouts now present in it, the four main Negaversers began trying to come up with a suitable enough plan for escape back to the Negaverse, to the best of their current abilities. This was given the fact they were now fighting several increasingly mad Scouts, animals, and many humans, obviously enough.

It was now just about 7:55 pm, local time, and thousands of Negaverse monsters had been destroyed already by everyone then fighting them. But there still were many more monsters yet-to-be destroyed, just the same. While others were engaging the enemy just as well as they then could, the Pilgrim did what he could to evacuate and/or take care of as many people from and around the area as possible. He successfully evacuated most of the human civilians from it well enough. Often with the help of several animals and the masked woman. But he wasn't able to evacuate all of them, for just as he was about to evacuate Sylvia's family from the scene, he was knocked down by assorted debris that had been loosened by effects of the battle here. He lost his transformation almost immediately, and was revealed to be Rolando. Skyhorse saw him lose his transformation from ten feet away, and shouted out his name at the very top of her lungs as best as she could now. Rolando was now unconscious as well.

Seconds later, all the monsters, Negaverse leaders, Scouts, and the Scouts' allies, whether human or not, stopped fighting. Skyhorse went over to where Rolando was being shielded from attack by Yeshua, Moonlight Serenade, and the masked woman as he himself was doing the same for her parents and siblings. She checked him and her family out, and then asked, "Yeshua, will he live?" Her family's present members were sleeping under him, after a stray monster attack had put them all to sleep before the Pilgrim could evacuate them well enough.

"He still lives, and will still live for many years in the future. At present, he is unconscious. He will wake up later in his bed, not yet remembering he is also the Pilgrim, if you don't kiss him," said Yeshua.

"And if I would kiss him, he will remember fully the fact that he is also the Pilgrim?"

"Yes. He will remember that, and he will remember fully the past he had from the days of the Silver Millennium, if you kiss him here. And you will do the same as well. The other Scouts who have just shown up here don't yet fully remember their pasts from that time, and that will remain the case for them all, whether or not you kiss Rolando here."

"Should I kiss him not or kiss him, Yeshua?"

"The choice is yours. I leave it fully up to you. He will live, in any case, however, Skyhorse."

"Understood. I shall not kiss him right now, then. For it wouldn't likely be fair to him to kiss him without his knowledge or consent while he's like this. Please see that he and the rest of the rest of my family gets out of her safely enough and easily enough, then, Yeshua." She said this as she placed her hands on Yeshua and Rolando's heads for a little while. Much healing energy passed to Rolando and Skyhorse from Yeshua while she kept her right hand on Yeshua's head and her right on Rolando's. It restored her to full strength as a Scout, by the way. When she felt Rolando and her strength had both been restored well enough at the current time, she removed her hands from Yeshua and Rolando's heads completely.

Twenty seconds later, Skyhorse said, "Queen Beryl, Generals Zoisite and Malachite, take your monsters and leave immediately, or die. I shall not permit your presences any longer in this place at this time. General Nephlyte, you shall not be allowed to leave, however. Sailor Scouts and the masked woman, please leave. And take your two cats with you, please, when you do. For I don't want to have to protect you and them while I battle Nephlyte here. Serenade, Isaiah, Vladephrad, and Yeshua, you should leave now as well. I will not need your help any longer in this battle if I don't have to protect anyone else at all in it."

Five minutes, at most, later, Skyhorse and Nephlyte were then completely alone in the restaurant. The restaurant had taken almost enough damage in it to make it quite susceptible to eventual structural collapse. Both fighters soon met in the approximate center of what still was left of the restaurant for a few moments, to discuss conditions for their battle to the death. They discussed them briefly, and then prepared themselves for the battle to come here.

Ten minutes after they'd been left alone in what was left of the restaurant, they began battling with each other using whatever means or items were then available to them here. They battled each other until about 8:55 pm or so, local time, before Nephlyte began to tire considerably. As soon as he began to do so well enough for her to notice easily enough, she began stepping up her attacks on him. For she'd basically only attacked him a few times with attacks meant to mainly probe for weak spots in his defensive techniques, reserving most of her energy for defensive purposes, before then.

He didn't do very well defending himself after she began stepping up her attacks on him. For he'd foolishly wasted at least a considerable amount of energy attacking her earlier with attacks that weren't quite as effective against her as he thought they'd be. By 9:30, she had him trapped in a storeroom of sorts, and in a corner there.

Nephlyte tried to get away, and reverse his current circumstances. But he was now doomed to die for what he'd done in and around Jerusalem while in charge of the Negaverse's operations there. Especially because they had drawn her friends and several of her relatives into such a situation quite needlessly, as far as she was then concerned in her life.

It took her until about 9:35 or so to finally be able to give him a killing stroke. Five minutes, at most, after she'd applied that stroke to him, and he'd died, his body had totally disappeared, after having been first reduced to mere dust, then to mere atoms, by very rapid disintegration of his corpse.

By 9:45, then, Skyhorse left what little was left of the restaurant, and went to the cavern in her van. She powered down on the way back to the cavern, in fact. She arrived there by 10:15 pm local time at the latest. When she then got there, Kiena and several others were all already present there. Those others were Mary, Tatiana, Isaiah, Naomi, Joelle, Moonlight Serenade, Vladephrad, and Yeshua. Isaiah was perched on Kiena's shoulder when Sylvia returned to the cavern.

For about the next thirty long minutes or so, then, everyone present discussed Skyhorse's battle to the death with Nephlyte. Eventually, they all got tired with doing so, at least at the current time. And Kiena asked, "Sylvia, when are you going home to Wakefield Castle again?"

"I really don't know, Kiena. Right now, I'm just so angry at my parents for trying to marry me off without my prior knowledge or consent. Even if they didn't actually have any idea that they were going to try to marry me off to Nephlyte, in the first place. Nobody chooses my future husband without my prior knowledge or consent except God. If they don't, then only I can choose my future husband, if I ever have one."

Mary said, "They might have had a good reason for trying to marry you off like they did."

"Even if, hypothetically speaking, they were being blackmailed for some reason, for example, Mary, there's still no reasonable enough excuse for what they did, and tried to do," said Sylvia.

"Yes, that might change your relationships with either or both of them permanently," said Tatiana, as she came over and rested a hand on Sylvia's shoulder briefly. Then she continued, "But they're still your parents, Sylvia, being blood of your blood, and flesh of your flesh. There's no way that'll ever change, at least in this time, if not in any others as well."

"A thousand years or so ago, you might have said the same thing to me before I went with my siblings the last time prior to the Moon Kingdom's fall, if I remember things well enough, Tatiana. You might have visited Wakefield Castle with several other Scouts prior to then, and witnessed a major fight between my parents and myself, at least, if not others as well."

"And do you remember what might have happened after that?" asked Tatiana.

"My siblings and I, as well as assorted other people there at the time, took all our various things and animals, or at least as many of them as we could, with us when we left Wakefield Castle behind. Some length of time later, we eventually made it to the Moon, and were there at the Moon Kingdom's fall. Of course, the Negaverse ruined everything and everyone they could when they came. We lost big time, as you can probably guess. If I remember things well enough, you and Sergei fell defending Queen Serenity while she was trying to find her eldest daughter and her beloved Prince of Earth. I held on longer, I believe, and fell near my own beloved about the time that Beryl blasted both the Moon Princess and her beloved, if I'm not too mistaken here. As I don't yet have all my memories back from that time, there are most likely at least one or two things that weren't exactly as they currently seem to have been to me, Tatiana. Whether or not they might pertain to the final battle on the Moon, I believe that things might not have been exactly as they currently seem to have been to me. I do, however, for instance, definitely know that at least three couples either were already engaged, or were about to get engaged. Which ones they were, I'm not sure of yet. But I do know this bit of information is totally accurate in its nature, just the same."

Sylvia conversed periodically with her current companions until about 11:30 pm or so. After which, they all began to leave the cavern behind again every so often. All except herself, of course. Serenade and Yeshua were the last to leave her alone there. And they both left by local midnight.

After they were gone as well from the cavern well enough, Sylvia completely secured the area of it as needed. Until about 2:30 or so, then, she attended to all her things as she saw fit to here. However, she began to tire considerably by 2. So she soon began to prepare for bed again. She was in her bed there by 2:35, and quite soundly asleep again by 2:50. She slept, and often dreamed more about her time in the days of the Silver Millennium, until nearly noon. And she only woke up again well enough when Kiena shook her awake in her bed as needed on the morning of Saturday, January 26, 1991. And Kiena had come there with that morning's edition of the _Jerusalem Post_ in her hands, which had an article about the Scouts' latest battle on the front page, in fact.


	22. Epilogue

Epilogue

Two or so weeks later, it was Monday, February 11, 1991. Sylvia encountered Rolando just before school, and they both were quite glad to see each other. He asked her, "Would you like to go out with me to celebrate my birthday, Miss Wakefield?"

"As a matter of fact, I would, Mr. Volois. We can also celebrate my birthday together, as well, because a major Negaverse monster attack and my parents kept me from celebrating mine with you on it."

"Word has it that you haven't been seen in and/or near Wakefield Castle for at least two weeks, if not longer, according to my sister Astrid."

"I see. Well, that is true, Mr. Volois. I am staying elsewhere at the current time. Where, I don't really want to say. However, Sailor Skyhorse does want to say, through me, that she thinks you're quite cool, and that she's definitely interested in you a great deal. Be on the roof of, or in, the library where we've periodically met each other by 7 tonight, if at all possible. Then we'll talk with each other as needed."

"As you wish, Miss Wakefield." Eventually, they parted, and went to their respective classes all school day long. They briefly conversed with each other before starting to attend to other things they had to do before the current time.

For instance, after school, Sylvia patrolled the local area of Jerusalem for a while. Both as Sylvia and as Skyhorse, in fact. No trouble arose that required her urgent attention as a Scout, so she eventually powered down again.

She returned briefly to the cavern when she could, and prepared for her night out with Rolando. She, of course, made quite sure that her power locket was with her quite securely, before she left the cavern wearing exactly the same dress, or almost exactly the same dress, that she'd worn to a ball the night that she and Rolando had first kissed each other during the times of the Silver Millennium.

She arrived wherever necessary by the agreed-upon time. When she did, all the Scouts were quietly reading, at least for the most part, there. No trouble had arisen which would require their attentions that night, nor would any do so at all, in fact. Sylvia and Rolando soon went to a safe enough place in or on the library, and she had Rolando turn around and close his eyes temporarily. When she was entirely certain that no mortal being could see, hear, and/or detect, at least, her doing so well enough, even Rolando or any Negaverser, at the moment, she powered up and became Sailor Skyhorse again. Skyhorse soon let Rolando open his eyes and turn around. Of course, he saw Skyhorse, and only Skyhorse, at the current time here.

He said, "Hello, Skyhorse. Miss Wakefield said you were interested in me now a great deal, and that you thought I was quite cool."

"Yes, she's right, on both counts."

"Where is she now? She was just here."

"She still is."

"I don't see her." He looked around briefly, as he said that.

"Very well, Rolando. It doesn't seem you have all your memories of the past back well enough just yet. It seems we will have to kiss to rectify that little problem here, then."

"What do you mean, 'kiss,' Skyhorse?"

"That's exactly what I mean. It seems we're a couple, or at least we were long ago. I was your girlfriend, and you were my boyfriend then. May we kiss?"

"Will Sylvia see us?"

"She will. If you and I kiss, you will understand fully what I'm talking about. And so will she and I, for that matter. There is also a sleeping part of you who will understand these things fully, just so you know."

"Will she be mad at us if and/or whenever we might kiss?"

"No, she won't. I can totally guarantee it, as God is my witness, that she won't be."

"Very well, then. If we must kiss, then let's do it, Skyhorse."

She walked over to him, and sat down near him, as she had him sit down as well. Before she took her gloves off and stuck them behind her tiara, for lack of a better place at present to put them, she said, "Are you sure about that, Rolando? Because once we kiss, nothing will be entirely as it actually is now for you in your life, I believe. Your life will change forever, if I'm not too mistaken about such a thing here in my life."

"I understand, Skyhorse. Or at least I think I do."

"You don't understand enough yet. But you will, if we kiss. Once we kiss, there'll most likely be no way that things will ever be as they were or are for us in our lives again, Rolando. Just so you know this well enough here, before we'd likely change both our lives for the rest of them, at least, if not for all eternity yet to come for us both."

"I see. What are we waiting for, then? I want to see Sylvia again, and I don't. Please bring Sylvia to me."

"As you wish, Rolando. But know this, before we kiss. The road for you may prove much more difficult than you might expect it to be in your life. And not just for you, but also for others who might often be found along the road of it as you still continue your pilgrimage to your eventual eternal home, wherever it might lead you to one day."

"As you say, so shall it be, God willing, Skyhorse."

"Agreed. Now hold my head in your hands, and I shall do the same with your head and my hands," said Skyhorse. They both did as she wanted them to both do here.

They looked into each other's eyes for about a minute or two, without saying anything at all to each other. Seeing no remaining doubts in any of their four eyes, they then looked just at each other's waiting lips. Their worlds shrank down until all they could see and think about were their four lips. Nothing else existed, at least as far as they were conscious of anything mortal in their respective lives. About three minutes or so after they'd stopped looking in each other's eyes, their lips all met for the first time in a rather passionate, yet rather gentle, kiss. All their memories of their past in the times of the Silver Millennium started flooding back into their consciousnesses from long-dormant parts of their minds. As they began exchanging kisses with each other on the roof of the library, Skyhorse briefly powered down unconsciously. So Rolando saw Skyhorse was Sylvia, and vice versa. As they still kissed, he felt himself powering up and becoming the Pilgrim as well. As he became the Pilgrim knowingly for the first time in this time period, she re-powered herself up into her Sailor Skyhorse state just as unconsciously as she'd briefly left it here. After about ten or so minutes of kisses between them both, all their memories of their respective pasts of about a millennium before had fully returned to them both, possibly once and for all. Or at least as long as they might live their lives in this particular time period, anyway.

By 8, then, they left the entire grounds of the library behind, in fact, for elsewhere in the local area. They then spent the next four or so hours, at most, with each other, before parting from each other near their respective vehicles again.

At one place they went with each other, they encountered a person who they might often run into during future Scout battles. They didn't yet know who she was, and why she might do that. But while they were in the same place as she then was, elsewhere in the area, that girl or woman said, to Rolando, "If you don't marry before the end of your 19th birthday, young man, you will be dead by the end of your 20th. And she will be dead by then, as well." Sylvia and Rolando were obviously quite upset when she said that. But when they tried to confront that female about what she'd just said to them, they eluded Sylvia and Rolando, and melted into the crowd present where the two reunited sweethearts had encountered her. After ten or so minutes of trying to find her again, without success, they eventually gave up trying to do so at the current time. The rest of their time together currently went relatively present for them both.

Just before they parted with a few brief kisses and embraces of each other, Sylvia said, "Don't worry about what she said too much, Rolando."

"But she said that if I'm not married by about this same time next year, I will be dead by about this time two years from now, and so will you, Sylvia."

"If God wishes to call us home before too much more time passes for us in our lives, so be it. But if not, then I don't think things will be as that person predicted they'd be, Rolando. So I think you should let God handle that sort of thing for you and your life, as best as you possibly can, of course."

They soon parted, as already stated here. Sylvia returned to the cavern and Rolando to his own family's residence in the local area. Both of them were at their respective destinations by 1 am local time, at the very latest, in any case at all.

When Sylvia arrived back at the cavern again, Kiena was waiting for her there. Sylvia conversed for about ten or so minutes with her about the night that Sylvia had just spent with Rolando, before saying, "Wow! Some night! You must have had a really good night then."

"For the most part, yes." Sylvia then told Kiena about the stranger's unexpected prediction. Kiena wasn't very happy when she learned about that prediction, of course.

"I wonder if this stranger could be a potential enemy in the future, Sylvia," said Kiena, eventually.

"I'd not be all that surprised if that ever turns out to actually be the case for any or all of us, Kiena." The two girls conversed for just a little while longer, before Kiena left the cavern again by 1:30 in the morning.

Sylvia was in her bed again by 1:45, and quite soundly asleep in it by 2. After she was, beyond any possible doubt at all, that way, she began dreaming other dreams in her life that had nothing at all to do with her previous time from the days of the Silver Millennium. She did this for the first time, probably, in about five months, at least, if not even longer. And so she slept in her bed until it was time for her to wake up and go to school again in her life.

End of Story One


End file.
